Bret Brookshire
The 1986 release of Texas native Kinky Friedman's first crime detective novel, Greenwich Killing Time, marked the start of a literary career that now totals 18 books. Not only is he Austin's favorite author, but he is apparently something upon which ex-prez Bill Clinton and current chief Bush Jr. agree. Both just love Friedman's main character, the cowboy-hat-wearin', cigar-chompin' cat named ? Kinky, whose adventures have been translated into 16 languages (including Japanese, whose readers, as per custom, read the novels back to front -- a hell of a way to read a mystery, in our opinion). Look for a book tour this fall for his brand new novel, Meanwhile Back at the Ranch.
