Richard Ford, born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1944, is the author of five novels and two collections of stories.  His novel Independence Day won the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner award in 1995, the first book ever to win both awards.  In 2001, he won the PEN/Malamud award for excellence in short fiction. His stories and essays have appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, Michigan Quarterly, TriQuarterly, The Best American Essays, The Best America Short Stories, and The Best American Sports Writing.  His latest collection is A Multitude of Sins (2002).