Thomas Harris is an American author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter M.D. is a fictional character in a series of horror novels by Thomas Harris and in the films adapted from them.Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer...

. All of his works have been made into films, the most notable being the multi-Oscar winning The Silence of the Lambs which became only the third film in Academy Award history to sweep the Oscars in major categories.
Harris was born in Jackson, Tennessee

Jackson, Tennessee

Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...

, but moved as a child with his family to Rich, Mississippi

Rich, Mississippi

Rich is an unincorporated community within Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. Although it is unincorporated, the zip code is 38617. Thomas Harris grew up in the community. The elevation is 180 feet....

; he had a difficult childhood, and was regarded as a loner by many of his peers.