Jerry Grillo has been making stories since he learned that crayons, though they look delicious, were best used for writing and drawing. A would-be cartoonist at first, he shifted gears and became a sports writer. For 30 years he worked as a staff editor, writer (occasional photographer and designer) for newspapers and magazines in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, South Carolina, and Georgia …

... and why the hell am I writing about myself in the third person? I hate that.

So, I left that scene to join the mad scientist beat at Georgia Tech, where I write stories about biomedical engineering and other fun stuff. I've also been fortunate to write on a freelance basis for a diverse range of magazines and websites, when time allows (including Atlanta, Paste, Georgia Trend, Super Lawyers, Golf, ESPN, and some others you probably never heard of or that I've forgotten).

But my first book, "The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically True Biography," is by far the biggest freelance project I’ve undertaken. The University of Georgia Press published the book in April 2021, and I'm proud of the work, and of the reception it's received out in the world.

I'm currently working on my next book, a biography of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, to be published by the University of Nebraska Press (2024).