The Last Juror (2004) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joyner

"I was born Joyner William Traynor. Until I was twelve, I hammered my parents with inquiries about why two supposedly intelligent people would stick Joyner on a newborn. The story finally leaked that one of my parents, both of whom denied responsibility, had insisted on Joyner as an olive branch to some feuding relative who allegedly had money. I never met the man, my namesake.

He died broke as far as I was concerned, but I nonetheless had Joyner for a lifetime."

Answer: journalism

Willie studied journalism at Syracuse "for five years before my grandmother got tired of paying for what was becoming an extended education...(She) had plenty of money, hated to spend it, and after five years she figured my opportunity had been sufficiently funded."

Answer: His grandmother BeeBee

Miss Emma Caudle is the owner and publisher of the newspaper. Her son, Wilson ("Spot") Caudle, was the editor. When the Caudle family went bankrupt, Walter Sullivan, the Caudle family lawyer, encouraged Willie to buy it. Willie borrowed $50,000 from his grandmother, known as BeeBee, to do so.

Answer: Rhoda Kessellaw

Rhoda was an attractive widow with two small children who was attacked, raped and murdered. Rhoda's neighbour found her in time for her to whisper the name of her attacker, Danny Padgitt, before she died. Ginger McClure was Rhoda's sister. Maxine Root was a member of the jury. Lydia Vince was the woman who perjured herself to provide Danny with an alibi.

Answer: She was the first black person to serve on a trial jury in Ford County.

Callie is the "last juror" referred to in the title of this book. "Four hours later, Calia H. Ruffin became the last juror chosen - the first black to serve on a trial jury in Ford County. The drunks up in the Bar Room had been right. The defense wanted her because she was black. The State wanted her because they knew her so well."

Answer: You convict me and I'll get every damned one of you.

When the trial resumed, the jury were still "reeling from the shock of being so flagrantly intimidated. The whole town was reeling. The jurors were a sampling of us, the rest of the community, and to threaten them was to do the same to everyone".

Answer: a life sentence

Because the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, the judge was unable to impose the death penalty. By law, the judge had to impose a life sentence. However, "life" didn't necessarily mean "for life" and nine years later, to the horror of the community, Danny Padgitt managed to obtain parole.

Answer: He decided to visit every one of the 88 churches in Ford County.

Few people in Ford County did not attend church and Willie was frequently invited to attend. "Once it was known that the owner and editor of the Times did not go to church, I became the most famous derelict in town. I decided to do something about it. ..My goal was to visit each of them, something I was sure had never been done, and a feat that would put me in a class by myself among churchgoers".

Answer: Lenny Fargarson

Shortly after Danny Padgitt was paroled, Lenny Fargarson was shot while sitting in his wheelchair on his front porch. Mo Teale was the second juror to be murdered - he was also shot. Maxine Root, intended to be the third victim, escaped death. The murderer sent her a bomb in a gift box of pecans. Everyone thought that Danny Padgitt was responsible for the deaths but Danny was the fourth victim.

Answer: A Time To Kill

"A Time To Kill" was John Grisham's first novel. The characters of Lucien Wilbanks and Harry Rex Vonner (both lawyers), Ethel Twitty (Wilbanks' secretary) and Rocky Childers (prosecutor) also appear in both novels.

According to his official website (http://www.randomhouse.com/features/grisham/) John Grisham explains the relationship between the two books as follows:

'It usually takes me about six months to write a book. "The Last Juror" took fifteen years, though I did not labor over it every day. I often went months without touching it, but the story was always there, slowly taking shape, waiting to be completed. When I wrote "A Time to Kill", I envisioned a number of stories from the fictional land of Ford County, Mississippi. My innocent little plan was to alternate the legal thrillers with the Ford County books, so after I finished writing "The Firm" in 1989, I immediately went to work on the next Ford County book-"The Last Juror".'