James Grady

James Grady is an American author of thrillers, police procedurals, and espionage novels. He is the author of the 1974 espionage thriller novel, Six Days of the Condor, adapted into a film of the same title in 1975, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford.

In the past, James Grady has written under the pseudonyms of James Dalton and Brit Shelby.

James Grady was born in Shelby, Montana. His father managed the Roxy theatre, and James, with his sister, worked as a ticket taker there since age nine.

"In eighth grade, I became a projectionist in Roxy's booth where Marylyn Monroe's red curtained nude calendar hung on the wall. On my first-night working solo, I caught the film on fire as the audience hooted and hollered." Grady recalls.

He graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 1974. During college, Grady worked for United States Senator Lee Metcalf of Montana. From 1974 — 1978 he was an investigative journalist for the famous muckraker Jack Anderson.

In 9174, James Grady debuted with the thriller novel Six Days of the Condor about government corruption. The story revolves around a CIA analyst named Ronald Malcolm, who uses the code "Condor." One day, while Malcolm was running errands, a group of professional assassins murdered his entire office, leaving him as the only survivor.

The film based on the book was a commercial success and made 41,5 million dollars at the box office.

James Grady published almost a dozen more novels in the thirty-eight years since Six Days of the Condor was published.

James Grady wrote for Slate, The Washington Post, Washingtonian, American Film, The New Republic, Sport, Parade, and the Journal of Asian Martial Arts.

The author's personal Facebook page contains his most recent columns.

Photo credit: FB @JamesGrady7