# Jerry Bledsoe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jerry_Bledsoe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jerry_Bledsoe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Bledsoe > Source revision: 1330826324 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American author and journalist (1941–2025)|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Infobox writer | name = Jerry Bledsoe | image = JERRY BLEDSOE.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|7|14}} | birth_place = [Danville, Virginia](/source/Danville%2C_Virginia), U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|12|31|1941|7|14}} | death_place = [Asheboro, North Carolina](/source/Asheboro%2C_North_Carolina), U.S. | awards= {{awards |award=[National Journalism Awards](/source/National_Journalism_Awards) |name=Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing |year=1968 |year2=1970}}{{cite news |newspaper=[El Paso Herald-Post](/source/El_Paso_Herald-Post) |author=Scripps-Howard Newspapers|date=February 6, 1971 |title= N.C. Newsman Receives Second Ernie Pyle Award |at=Section B, Page 2}} | occupation = Author, journalist }} '''Jerry Bledsoe''' (July 14, 1941 – December 31, 2025) was an American author and journalist known for several [true crime](/source/true_crime) titles based on murders in his native state of [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina). ==Life and career== Bledsoe was born in [Danville, Virginia](/source/Danville%2C_Virginia), on July 14, 1941.{{cite web |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/236398/jerry-bledsoe |publisher = Penguin Random House |title=Jerry Bledsoe |accessdate=2018-01-12|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web |title=Jerry Bledsoe |url=https://www.librarything.com/author/bledsoejerry |website=LibraryThing |access-date=2 January 2026}} His journalism career, which spanned over 20 years, included newspaper work in the North Carolina cities of [Kannapolis](/source/Kannapolis%2C_North_Carolina), [Charlotte](/source/Charlotte%2C_North_Carolina), and [Greensboro](/source/Greensboro%2C_North_Carolina) and work at ''[Esquire](/source/Esquire_(magazine))'' magazine. Bledsoe also contributed investigative reports to the ''[Rhinoceros Times](/source/Rhinoceros_Times)'', including a 92-part, three-year series detailing the controversies surrounding the Greensboro Police Department. His first published book was the stock car book ''[The World's Number One, Flat-Out, All-Time Great Stock Car Racing Book](/source/The_World's_Number_One%2C_Flat-Out%2C_All-Time_Great_Stock_Car_Racing_Book)'' published by Doubleday in 1975. His book ''[Bitter Blood](/source/Bitter_Blood)'' was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted as a television movie. Bledsoe established Down Home Press to publish books about North Carolina. He and his wife, Linda, lived in [Randolph County](/source/Randolph_County%2C_North_Carolina), North Carolina. Bledsoe died on December 31, 2025, at the age of 84.[https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article314103735.html Jerry Bledsoe, bestselling NC true-crime author, has died. He was 84.] ==Books== * ''[The World's Number One, Flat-Out, All-Time Great Stock Car Racing Book](/source/The_World's_Number_One%2C_Flat-Out%2C_All-Time_Great_Stock_Car_Racing_Book)'' (1975) * ''You Can't Live on Radishes'' (1976) * ''Just Folks: Visitin's With Carolina People'' (1980) * ''Where's Mark Twain When We Really Need Him'' (1981) * ''From Whalebone to Hot House: A Journey Along North Carolina's Longest Highway, U.S. 64'' (1986) * ''[Bitter Blood: A True Story of Southern Family Pride, Madness, and Multiple Murder](/source/Bitter_Blood)'' (1989) * ''Bare-Bottomed Skier: And Other Unlikely Tales'' (1990) * ''Just Folks: Visitin' With Carolina People'' (1990) * ''North Carolina Curiosities: Jerry Bledsoe's Outlandish Guide to the Dablamedest Things to See and Do in North Carolina'' (1990) * ''[Blood Games: A True Account of Family Murder](/source/Blood_Games_(Bledsoe_book))'' (1991) * ''Country Cured: Reflections from the Heart'' (1991) * ''Blue Horizons: Faces and Places from a Bicycle Journey Along the Blue Ridge Parkway'' (1993) * ''Before He Wakes: A True Story of Money, Marriage, Sex and Murder'' (1994) (About convicted murderer [Barbara Stager](/source/Barbara_Stager)) * ''Grits For Brain'' (1994) * ''The Angel Doll: A Christmas Story'' (1996) * ''Death Sentence: The True Story of [Velma Barfield's](/source/Velma_Barfield) Life, Crimes, and Execution'' (1998) * ''A Gift of Angels: Sequel to the Angel Doll, a Christmas Story'' (1999) * ''Partial to Home: A Memoir of the Heart'' (w/Bob Timberlake, 1999) * ''Death by Journalism: One Teacher's Fateful Encounter With Political Correctness'' (2001) * ''Built on a Rock: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Place'' (w/Jerry D. Neal, 2005) * ''Fire In The Belly: Building A World-leading High-tech Company From Scratch In Tumultuous Times'' (w/Jerry D. Neal, 2005) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828180420/http://www.blairpub.com/cultural%20studies/Bledsoeinterview.htm Interview with Jerry Bledsoe at blairpub.com] * {{IMDb name| 0088137}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bledsoe, Jerry}} Category:1941 births Category:2025 deaths Category:American non-fiction crime writers Category:Ernie Pyle Award winners --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jerry Bledsoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Bledsoe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Bledsoe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.