THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506250094
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WINTERGREEN LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Patricia Cornwell, author of best-selling novels about a sleuthing Virginia medical examiner, was honored Saturday as the Virginia Press Association's Virginian of the Year.
Cornwell, who lives in Richmond, received the VPA's Parks-Mason Award as Virginian of the Year from the state newspaper industry organization at its annual summer conference at Wintergreen Resort.
The VPA annually honors a resident or native of Virginia who has achieved national acclaim.
Cornwell's most recent book, ``The Body Farm,'' remained on the Publisher's Weekly hardcover fiction best-seller list for more than three months last year. In 1993, ``Cruel and Unusual'' remained on the list for several weeks.
Her mystery novels were inspired by six years she spent as a computer analyst for the office of the chief medical examiner of Virginia.
She watched hundreds of autopsies and acted as a ``scribe,'' recording measurements and descriptions of the wounds of murder victims.
She also brings to her crime novels detail she gathered as a Richmond Police Department volunteer.
The novels chronicle the adventures of Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner whose duties take her well beyond post-mortems and expose her to cunning killers. The sixth book in her series, ``From Potter's Field,'' was recently completed and is due for publication next August.
Her first book, ``A Time For Remembering: The Ruth Bell Graham Story,'' was a biography she wrote in 1982 about the wife of the Rev. Billy Graham. by CNB