‘Zenith Man’ murder attorney/author to speak at Georgia Writers Museum

EATONTON — The tabloid headlines screamed: SICKO HOLDS HIS WIFE HOSTAGE FOR 30 YEARS, THEN KILLS HER, COPS CHARGE.

When Alvin Ridley’s wife was discovered dead in her home, residents of the small town of Ringgold assumed the recluse, hoarder, and odd figure naturally murdered her.

With that attention-grabbing story as a backdrop, the Georgia Writers Museum announced the special guest at its upcoming Crime & Wine experience with McCracken Poston, the defense attorney who represented Ridley in the notorious “Zenith Man” murder trial. Poston is the author of a new book entitled “Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom.”

This special event will be held on June 22 at 7 p.m. at the Plaza Arts Center. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased at Georgia Writers Museum (www.georgiawritersmuseum.org). Contact the museum to register and preorder a copy of Poston’s book.

This event is no ordinary Crime & Wine, museum officials said. The crime has been solved, but the fascination is in the crazy details.

Idealistic young defense attorney Poston, still stinging from a failed congressional run, had already encountered the eccentric Ridley — dubbed “Zenith Man” for his work repairing televisions — but still took his case. The court of public opinion would serve as judge and jury for Alvin Ridley, who created no shortage of bizarre problems for his lawyer. Belligerent, incomprehensible, secretive, he was a complete puzzle for everyone he encountered, including his lawyer.

Investigators would make assumptions about Alvin’s wife, Virginia, assuming the same biases that Ringgold townspeople held — that Alvin had been holding his wife captive for decades. The case seemed doomed to fail, until the diligent lawyer looked past the community’s biases, as well as his own, to reveal an astonishing truth.

“(The book has) the kinds of twists and turns that will make readers think it’s great fiction — except it all happened,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham wrote of Poston’s book. “This legal thriller, filled with courtroom drama, is a fantastical true crime tale that was over two decades in the making. Set in the Appalachian foothills town of Ringgold, the story spotlights a small town of prying eyes and devastating gossip that would push two people with disabilities behind closed doors. The story will keep you on the edge of your seat right up to its surprise ending.”

McCracken Poston Jr. is a practicing criminal defense attorney and former state legislator in the Georgia House of Representatives. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and received a law degree from the University of Georgia. He gained national attention for his handling of several notable cases that were featured on “CNN Presents,” “Dateline NBC,” “A&E’s American Justice,” and “Forensic Files.” He lives in Ringgold.

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