McCracken Poston Jr.

Mugshot of Alvin Ridley, June 30, 1998. Charged with imprisoning his wife in their basement for 27 years, and murdering her in 1997. He was already considered a dangerous malcontent to many, including his own lawyer. We were all wrong.

WE’VE BEEN ROBBED! People who write and perform music would often express what piracy of their work felt like. I know the feeling! This is the THIRD time this Ringgold, Georgia story has been hit - now this one is for sale in Belgium and the Netherlands. Whoever “Matthew Bryan” is, if Alvin were here he’d likely be “turning him over to the Lord”, and I would at least feel some satisfaction that justice was coming! This area of law is definitely not in my wheelhouse. It’s been turned over to the publisher’s lawyers.

PAPERBACK PUBLICATION DAY! What a journey! Thank you readers for being a part of it. Remember, all PAPERBACK orders and sales this week go into the first-week sales calculations. These pics are: a trial week classic, Alvin’s visit to Heritage High three years ago today, and a full box of paperbacks arriving at a store.

Alvin Ridley was very much alive when I first turned in my manuscript in 2023, and many of us wouldn't trade anything for witnessing him at the hardcover book launches and seeing how his autism diagnosis and the telling of his story lifted him. He lived another year, and I have updated the TRADE PAPERBACK with his last days, last words, and the lasting legacy he left us here. PREORDERS (basically, purchases in September) will count toward the critical first-week sales, and that computation goes into bestseller status, bookstore decisions, and other things. SHOP LOCAL FIRST! Book&Barrel and Fern&Feather in Ringgold can get you a signed one, closer to launch day (Sept. 29). But if you would rather it land on your porch, here are some other options: Amazon: amazon.com/Zenith-Man-Redemp… Barnes & Noble: barnesandnoble.com/s/9780806… Bookshop.org: bookshop.org/p/books/zenith-… Books-A-Million: booksamillion.com/search?que… Walmart: walmart.com/ip/19319820460 Target: target.com/p/zenith-man-by-m… Kensington Publishing: kensingtonbooks.com/shop/zen… Penguin Random House: penguinrandomhouse.com/books…

SEPTEMBER IS UPON US! LET THE COUNTDOWN TO 09/29/2026 BEGIN! I submitted the manuscript for the hardcover of this book to my publisher in 2023. Alvin Ridley was very much alive and just getting used to the knowledge that he had spent his whole life with undiagnosed autism. The discovery had reframed the whole story for me and sparked this book. It also transformed Alvin. But the story didn't end there. Many of you witnessed Alvin being "lifted" by the autism diagnosis and his new understanding of himself. Autism is an information-processing condition. I apologized to Alvin for my part in the "processing" problem, because I was not processing him and he wasn't processing me! Alvin was the happiest person I knew at the time of his passing, something I never thought I would say about Alvin Ridley. So, the trade paperback, coming to your store (or to your house) on September 29, 2026, will give final closure on the subject. The last days, the last words, and the lasting legacy of Alvin Ridley. While I often wish I could have given you the whole story in the hardcover, I wouldn't trade anything for witnessing how this town warmed up to its "TV Repairman" (as Alvin put on his tombstone). We have a unique opportunity to tell the world this story, now in the less expensive trade paperback format. We also have the opportunity to get "bestseller" status in several forums, such as NYT, USAToday, Amazon, B&N, Books-A-Million, and others. This is all determined by presales before the end of this month. I like to use the example of what Savannah did with "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" after achieving bestseller status. If Ringgold, Georgia could just have a fraction of that... imagine! You can help. Get your Christmas shopping done early! Get your own Alvin Ridley story's conclusion. Get something for that person who has everything in the world but the end of Alvin's story. PLEASE PREORDER THE PAPERBACK TODAY FROM YOUR LOCAL STORE OR FROM: AMAZON a.co/d/06YZU97B BARNES & NOBLE barnesandnoble.com/s/9780806… BOOKSHOP (For Independent Bookstores) bookshop.org/search?keywords… BOOKS-A-MILLION booksamillion.com/search?que… WALMART walmart.com/ip/19319820460 TARGET target.com/.../zenith-man-by… KENSINGTON PUBLISHING kensingtonbooks.com/shop/zen… PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE penguinrandomhouse.com/.../z… And thank you. McP

My publisher's parent company is Kensington Publishing Corp. They are giving away 100 free copies of the updated paperback of "Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom" (Citadel), with registration starting at 12:01 am, tonight, Saturday, August 29th, and ending on Saturday, September 12th. Thousands sign up for Goodreads Giveaways from all over the country. This one is US ONLY. Let's see how many sign up! Best of luck! And if you don't win, remember it's a paperback - and easier on the pocketbook! goodreads.com/giveaway/show/…

Folks around Ringgold, Georgia, mostly tried to stay away from this house. It had rumors swirling around it since the late 1960s, and especially after 1970, when Virginia Ridley "disappeared" from public view. In 1997, her husband Alvin reported she had "stopped breathing" and immediately became a suspect in her death for the flat, emotionless tone. Everyone was dead wrong. #ZenithManBook #MurderTrial #SouthernGothic #AutismAwareness #AutismAcceptance facebook.com/share/p/1T8nwrX…

I hired a team of goats, sheep, and one big Great Pyrenees to watch over them as they cleaned off the property and found hidden cars on the estate of my former client, former murder trial defendant Alvin Ridley. #ZenithManBook #Misunderstood #MurderTrial #autismawareness #autismacceptance facebook.com/share/v/1HcEyWM…

THE MAGNA CARTA, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, and ALVIN’S DECLARATION OF FIVE CONSPIRACIES. Alvin drew this original up during my representation of him when I was trying to get him to focus on the case at hand, his looming murder trial. We fought over its relevance. It’s an elaborate statement connecting a bunch of disconnected and truly impossible-to-connect things and events. What is wonderful is that Alvin gave up all conspiracies after his autism diagnosis, which lifted him and eased his mind. He began to open up to others, and, as he wrote, he forgave “all who done me wrong”, and later even admitted that it was probably “solid state circuitry” that ended his TV business. And it was true forgiveness, a real miracle to watch unfold as the community warmed to him. Of these three historic charters, only one can be seen in Ringgold Georgia, at Caffeine Addicts Coffee - 7819 Nashville Street

Travis Knight, the acclaimed artist now celebrated all over (who did this wonderful art of Alvin Ridley), went to Ringgold High, and as an employee at a Dalton copy center, remembers a specific frequent customer. See this weeks “Livewire” magazine. In the clean up of Alvin’s shop, house and vehicles, between 2003-2026, I have removed over 240 FULL boxes of Alvin’s copies of petitions, notices, beefs, grievances, objections, and general discontent - copied, but never distributed. At 500 sheets per ream, that’s 5000 sheets per box. I stopped counting at 240 boxes, it was probably 250. That makes 1,250,000 flyers of protest. #murdertrial #ZenithManBook #SouthernGothic

IT WAS AN HONOR when Dick Harpootlian, a fine South Carolina lawyer, asked me to be an early reader and reviewer of his book. And even greater when they put my review on the back cover! This is an amazing true crime story from long ago, when he was a prosecutor. Most of America knows him today as the defense attorney for Alex Murdaugh. This is a great read.

Virginia and Alvin seemed to be two peas in a pod, very much aligned in their views of the world, and kept to themselves. Alvin told me before the trial that they did go on vacations, to Florida and once to New Orleans. I just now found the proof. Virginia meticulously planned and budgeted trips, even noting a doctor she could or did see in Daytona Beach, Florida. These were all in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before the business and their world started falling apart, but well into the period she was deemed to be “missing”.

“Another, a model head made of Styrofoam, was there, apparently, for a closer study of her face. As Alvin awkwardly fumbled with the mannequin and the head, I could hear Dr. Goldberg surveying the room, mumbling ‘Oh, my God...’” - p. 216, Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom (Citadel) Alvin worked very hard on creating this non-crime scene for his own “forensic pathologist” (air quotes strongly intended). While the old mannequin may not have survived the years after the trial, “Ginger”, Virginia’s styrofoam wig model with her blonde short-cropped wig, did! And now she has a new home. And, naturally, there was no better place to display Alvin’s original neck brace! Both are now permanently housed at Caffeine Addicts Coffee #truestory #murdertrial #southerngothic #autismawareness #AutismAcceptance

GONE TWO YEARS TODAY - I know Alvin‘s last couple of years were his happiest. Thanks to everyone for making him feel loved and accepted. The trade paperback of my book comes out in September, and its updated epilogue covers the period of time of the hardcover launch, Alvin‘s surprisingly relaxed stage presence at book events, and his final days and last words that still resonate with me. While I would’ve loved to have had it all put in just one version of the book, seeing Alvin experience the launch of the hardcover and the warmth and affection from the community was inspiring. #ZenithManBook #MurderTrialMemoir #SouthernGothic #AutismAwareness #AutismAcceptance

A 38 YEAR OLD RELIC, LEFT BY A 28 YEAR OLD CANDIDATE. Alvin & Virginia saved everything. And Alvin made multiple photocopies of everything he saved. Imagine my surprise to find the campaign card that I left at his gate in 1988 in my first door-to-door campaign. Nine years before Virginia’s death would put him in the national spotlight. I did not know his mother well, and I did not know Virginia existed. But I obviously did know that Alvin was complaining about various problems. Of course, he never did vote either for or against me. See Alvin’s direct examination, page 235: “When was the last time you voted, Alvin?“ “I haven’t voted since they seized my van,” he said. I asked, “Why not?” His voice lowered. “ I’ve just lost confidence in the system.” #murdertrial #southerngothic #ZenithManBook #autismawareness #autismacceptance

Here's what Alvin Ridley's business looked like in 2003. I didn't have the heart to do anything about my security interest in it, but the city was threatening to condemn it. All was well again with Alvin when I rebuilt it and named it the "Ridley Building" in his honor. We enjoyed going there weekly for lunch or "black cake" (brownies). I began to put some things on the wall about the case. Alvin loved the recognition for many years, and now that he's gone, even more is going up. It's a great coffee shop with a folk art gallery and a murder trial museum! Caffeine Addicts at 2819 Nashville Street, in historic downtown Ringgold, Georgia.

THE VAN. This 1977 Chevrolet van was actually a big deal for Ridley's Zenith, for all-weather transporting of TV sets around until 1984 when it got seized as part of a counterclaim in Alvin's lengthy lawsuits saga. And let's just say Alvin showed remarkable determination about it, persistently raising the 'illegal-seizure' as a big issue despite his own looming murder trial. Only now do I recognize this unwavering dedication as a testament to the obsessive drive often associated with autism. But I was baffled in 1998, over a year into the case and after hearing Alvin's continuous complaints of the taking of the van, when I discovered it had been returned just three weeks after it was taken, due to the seizure being ruled a 'mistake'. Yet, Alvin said he “refused to accept it back”, saying accepting it “could trigger a new statute of limitations.” So, when I first saw it, it had been sitting on the property untouched for fourteen years, a symbol of stubbornness. And remarkably, now forty-two years after its return, it still stands there today, untouched, a tribute to the tenacity of Alvin Ridley. Part of me hates to see it go. #zenithmanbook #murdertrial #southerngothic #autismawareness #autismacceptance

A new exhibit is being installed at Caffeine Addicts, the former site of Ridley’s Zenith TV Sales and Service: “Free Kittens” is a sign that Alvin had in his house. There were also a number of photos of a very young Alvin with a light-haired cat and multiple photos of the same cat, even these 8x10s that he or his mother had already enlarged. Joining the Exhibit soon are photographs and other renderings of “Kitty” and “Meowy” - Alvin’s later cats who got briefly pulled into a murder trial. #murdertrial #truecrime #southerngothic @rebmasel