Ridley Pearson

Ridley Pearson, born on March 13, 1953 in Glen Cove, New York, is an American writer. Pearson started out writing suspense and thriller novels for an adult audience, but is now writing adventure books for children and teens. Along with Dave Barry, he has written the Starcatchers series of books, which are four prequels to Peter and Wendy. They are Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, and Peter and the Sword of Mercy. He and Barry have also written the Never Land Books, shorter chapter books tying into the Starcatchers novels. Pearson initiated the Starcatchers books after his daughter asked him how Peter Pan met Captain Hook, and asked his friend Dave Barry to work on them with him.

Also for Disney, Pearson has a series of novels for young teens, set inside the Magic Kingdom theme parks. The series is called The Kingdom Keepers, and features Disney characters coming to life and Walt Disney leaving clues to the secrets of the parks. The books are subtitled Disney After Dark, Disney At Dawn, Disney In Shadow, and Descent Into Darkness, with at least one more (set on a Disney cruise ship) planned.

His other books for young readers include Science Fair (with Barry), about a foreign attempt to take over the U.S. government by infiltrating a middle school science fair; and Steel Trapp, a series about high schooler Steven "Steel" Trapp and his espionage-related adventures.

Pearson's novels for adults include Undercurrents (1988), The Angel Maker (1993), No Witnesses (1994), Chain of Evidence (1995), Beyond Recognition (1997), and The Body of David Hayes (2004). Pearson became the first American to receive the Raymond Chandler-Fulbright Fellowship at Oxford University in 1991. Many of his stories are set in the neighborhoods in and around Seattle, Washington, and feature Seattle Police detective Lou Boldt and forensic psychologist Daphne Mathews.

He is the author of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red&mdash;adapted as a film (2003)&mdash;and three mysteries featuring Chris Klick, under the pseudonyms of Joyce Reardon, Ph.D., and Wendell McCall, respectively.

Pearson was raised by Robert and Betsy Pearson in Riverside Connecticut along with his siblings Bradley and Wendy. He was educated at the Pomfret School, The University Of Kansas, and Brown University. He lived in Shanghai, China for the summer of 2008 and until summer of 2009, but came back to live in Saint Louis with his wife Marcelle, and their two daughters... tragically named Paige and Storey. He plays bass guitar and sings for the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band of published authors led by Dave Barry.