On this day in 1951, novelist Charlaine Harris, creator of the best-selling Sookie Stackhouse series, about a telepathic barmaid and a group of vampires and other supernatural creatures in small-town Louisiana, is born in Mississippi.
Harris, who was raised in Tunica, Mississippi, graduated from Rhodes College in Tennessee in 1973 with a degree in English. Afterward, she worked various jobs as a typesetter before publishing her first novel, “Sweet and Deadly,” in 1981. The book, a traditional mystery set in a small Southern town, was a modest commercial success, as were the two series of novels Harris went on to launch: Aurora Teagarden, about a spunky, crime-solving librarian, and Lily Bard, about a cleaning lady with a complicated past who investigates murders.
Harris’s breakout success—the Sookie Stackhouse novels (also known as the Southern Vampire series)—came when she grew tired of writing conventional mysteries and moved into the paranormal world. Following multiple rejections from publishers, she sold her first Stackhouse book, “Dead Until Dark,” which debuted in 2001. “Dead Until Dark,” along with the other novels in the series, is narrated by the mind-reading Stackhouse and set in Bon Temps, Louisiana, a fictional rural town populated by humans, vampires (who drink synthetic blood), shape-shifters and witches, among others. The Arkansas-based Harris has published more than 10 Stackhouse novels, all of which combine elements of the mystery, fantasy and romance genres, and have “Dead” in the title, including “Club Dead,” (2003) “From Dead to Worse,” (2008) and “Dead in the Family” (2010). The books inspired HBO’s popular “True Blood” TV series, which premiered in 2008.
In 2005, Harris debuted a new mystery series about a young woman named Harper Connelly who as a result of being struck by lightning can locate dead people and hear their final thoughts. Harris’ varied cast of characters has earned her a widespread following, and in May 2011 she became the fourth author ever to sell 1 million e-books for the Amazon Kindle e-reader, after Steig Larsson, James Patterson and Nora Roberts.
Also on This Day
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- Mousetrap opens in London, 1952
- American Revolution
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- Automotive
- Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge sinks to the bottom of Lake Washington, 1990
- Civil War
- Yankees rout Rebels at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, 1863
- Cold War
- London Council of Foreign Ministers meeting begins, 1947
- Crime
- International day to eliminate violence against women, 1999
- Disaster
- Storm of the century hits eastern U.S., 1950
- General Interest
- Last British soldiers leave New York, 1783
- JFK buried at Arlington National Cemetery, 1963
- Mishima commits ritual suicide, 1970
- Iran-Contra connection revealed, 1986
- Hollywood
- Agatha Christie’s long-running play The Mousetrap opens, 1952
- Literary
- Nathanael West flunks out of Tufts, 1921
- Charlaine Harris, author of Sookie Stackhouse books, is born, 1951
- Music
- Singer-songwriter Nick Drake dies, 1974
- Old West
- U.S. Army retaliates for the Little Bighorn massacre, 1876
- Presidential
- Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington, 1963
- Sports
- Sugar Ray takes his title back, 1980
- Vietnam War
- Catholic official reports support provided to North Vietnam, 1967
- Communist activity increases along Cambodian border, 1969
- World War I
- German commander in East Africa surrenders , 1918
- World War II
- A "war warning" is sent to commanders in the Pacific, 1941
Nov 25, 1951:
Charlaine Harris, author of Sookie Stackhouse books, is born
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This Week in History, Nov 25 - Dec 1
- Nov 25, 1921
- Nathanael West flunks out of Tufts
- Nov 25, 1951
- Charlaine Harris, author of Sookie Stackhouse books, is born
- Nov 26, 1862
- Alice in Wonderland manuscript is sent as a Christmas present
- Nov 27, 1786
- Robert Burns postpones emigration to Jamaica
- Nov 28, 1582
- William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway
- Nov 29, 1943
- Sue Miller is born
- Nov 30, 1835
- Mark Twain is born
- Dec 01, 1830
- Due date for Victor Hugo
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