The son of Julia and BF Burton Jr, both Alabama natives, Benjamin F Burton III was born and raised in the West End neighborhood of Birmingham, along with five sisters and a brother. He attended West End High School and graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS degree in business.
Unable to find satisfaction in the coat and tie world of business, he opened a small paperback bookstore in 1980, selling novels without a serious thought about someday writing one himself. His only child, BF Burton lV, was born on November 26, 1981, only nine days after his father died.
After suffering a temporarily fatal heart attack on December 22, 2004 (three hits with a defibrillator prevented his checking out permanently), he re-evaluated his life and decided it was time to utilize his long dormant writing ability. After he had written 1000+ song lyrics, his sister, Jean, suggested he write a novel. The end result of that suggestion produced this book -- Southern Shade.
Southern Shade |
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