An
author whom people would recognize more by the films based on his books. He wrote
The Hustler and
The Color of Money, about a pool shark named
Fast Eddie, which were both made into films starring
Paul Newman. Tevis also wrote
The Man Who Fell to Earth, which was more interesting and much less
bizarre than the corresponding
David Bowie movie.
Tevis was born in San Francisco, but grew up in Kentucky. He spent most of his adult life teaching English, at the high school and college level. Most of this time was spent at Ohio University. In his early days, he wrote a number of short stories, as well as two novels: The Hustler in 1959, and The Man Who
Fell to Earth in 1963. Both of these books were quite well received, and were made into movies in 1961 and 1976, respectively.
After this success, Tevis fell into alcoholism, and didn't write anything for 17 years. In 1978, he quit drinking, quit teaching, and moved to New York. Between 1978 and 1984, he published several novels, including Mockingbird (1980), Far From Home (1981), Steps of the Sun (1983), The Queen's Gambit (1983), and The Color of Money (1984, film in 1986). He died of lung cancer in 1984.