Famed author Jerry Bledsoe passes at 84

ASHEBORO — Renowned journalist and crime writer Jerry Bledsoe of Asheboro has died. 

Reports say the 84-year-old’s death came on New Year’s Eve following a fall at his home. 

Best known nationally for his best-selling books “Bitter Blood,” “Before He Wakes” and “Blood Games,” Bledsoe had honed his writing craft as an investigative newspaper reporter.

But before he worked for newspapers, Bledsoe learned that he had a knack for writing while in the army. He wrote his memoir “Do-Good Boy” to tell about his unlikely introduction to writing — especially for someone who flunked high school English.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Bledsoe in February of 2019 after his memoir was published. Joining me was photographer Paul Church.

It wasn’t the first meeting with Bledsoe for either of us. I had talked to him after he wrote a couple of books with Jerry Neal, a founder of RF Micro Devices. Bledsoe collaborated in the writing of “Built on a Rock” and “Fire in the Belly.”

After I interviewed Neal when “Built on a Rock” was published, he invited me to a tour of his Linbrook Estate in Trinity. Also on the private tour were Bledsoe and WMAG morning host Bill Flynn.

Then in 2019, Church and I joined Bledsoe in a small building outside his home where he did much of his writing. I found him to be warm and welcoming and willing to talk about his accidental journey into writing.

“I was really struck by my good fortune getting into the newspaper business,” he said of his reason for doing the memoir. “I fell into fortunate situations.”

To begin with, Bledsoe was tricked into joining the army. A school friend of his was going to the recruiting station to enlist and Bledsoe just went with him for support.

While he was waiting, another recruiting officer asked Bledsoe what he wanted to do for a living. “I want to be an artist,” was the reply. The officer told him the army had the best art schools in the world.

The hook pulled Bledsoe in and he joined the army, only to learn later that there are no army art schools.

Instead of art, Bledsoe was placed in information services.

“The army was not made for me and I was not made for the army,” he told me. “But the army made my whole life. I would never have thought about being a writer, so it’s sort of a miracle.”

Putting together stories for army publications, along with mentors who taught him, made him realize he had a talent for writing. So, when he was discharged from the military, he had decided he was going to work for newspapers.

When he got back to the US, Bledsoe worked for newspapers in Kannapolis and High Point before moving to the Greensboro News & Record. It’s there that his stories and columns made him a household name in the Triad.

Writing crime stories eventually led Bledsoe to author books on crime, such as “Bitter Blood,” which was made into a TV movie. He branched out into other topics, including “The Angel Doll: A Christmas Story” and memoirs of Lexington artist Bob Timberlake and Neal.

During our interview, Bledsoe lamented that getting books published isn’t easy any more. But his son Erik helped get “Do-Good Boy” through the presses.

Church recalls the 2019 interview but said what he remembered was that he would often see Bledsoe at thrift and antique stores, and would stop him to talk shop. “He was a funny guy. He had a dry sense of humor,” Church said.

Once, during one of those conversations, Church told Bledsoe, who was tall and gangly, “he reminded me of Jimmy Stewart.” Bledsoe thought that was interesting since, when he was serving in the army in Japan, people came up to him and “thought I was Jimmy Stewart.”

Church said Bledsoe had a knack for art work and learned to identify what was good. “He had quite a bit of art,” Church said. “He was an interesting cat.”

One thing Church recalled from the interview at Bledsoe’s office was “the tiny building where he wrote ‘Bitter Blood.’”

Bledsoe’s memoir was a sort of a self-reminder of his good fortune in becoming a writer. “The wonderful thing about newspapers is every day is different,” he told me. “I met some of the most wonderful people, wild characters. Stories are out there everywhere.”

Bledsoe “had a long, distinguished career as a journalist and stuck up for the underdog in his reporting and as an author,” his son, Erik Bledsoe of Cary, told the Charlotte Observer in a story published following his father’s death. The Observer reported that Eric said his father died on New Year’s Eve after a fall in his home.

But the best rewards come from readers’ feedback, when “people tell you how your writings affected their lives. The thing that helped me was the ability to write about things that interest people. The columns become personal and get reactions, reach out and touch people.”

Most of Bledsoe’s books can be found at www.thriftbooks.com.