Author and Journalist, Gray Basnight came and spoke at Manchester High School about his journey as a journalist and fictional author. Basnight attended Manchester High School and graduated in 1971. He had his own column and was an editor for the school newspaper at Manchester. During his time at Manchester, Basnight would often drive his teacher, Ms. Reibsamen’s car to downtown Richmond in order to print their school newspaper. ¨If you have experience with a newspaper, and you move on to radio or television, they will consider you more than someone else,¨ said Basnight. Basnight then went on to attend New York University(NYU) and graduated in 4 years with a Masters degree in Journalism. His Journalism career began in New York, where he worked …show more content…
Following being laid off, he decided to begin writing fiction. He published his first fiction book called, The Cop With The Pink Pistol in 2012. The book is about a NYPD Homicide Detective, Donna Prima, who carries a pink .38 caliber pistol around her ankle instead of the more common, P99 pistol that most detectives carry.
After receiving excellent reviews and sales on his first fictional novel, Basnight decided to write another. He based his second novel off of the Civil War and titled it, Shadows in the Fire; a story about a twelve year-old slave girl, who is abandoned by her mentally-ill white owner, as Richmond burns during the Civil War. Basnight published this novel in April, 2015 and so far, has received amazing reviews. He has already been on Channel 8 Good Morning Richmond, has spoken and signed books at numerous Barnes and Noble’s.
Gray Basnight has been a great role model for all students wishing to pursue journalism as a career. It was a great honor to have an experienced journalist come and speak to the journalism class here at Manchester. He continues to inspire more and more young journalists everywhere he speaks. Hopefully, he can continue to inspire more people with his novels and have a successful rest of his