Background
Gerald Morris was born on October 29, 1963 in Riverside, Wisconsin, United States. He is the son of Russell A. Morris, and Lena May Morris (Phillips), both missionaries.
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In 1985 Gerald Morris got a Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University.
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Gerald Morris holds a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Philosophy from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Gerald Morris was born on October 29, 1963 in Riverside, Wisconsin, United States. He is the son of Russell A. Morris, and Lena May Morris (Phillips), both missionaries.
In 1985 Gerald Morris got a Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University. He also holds a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Philosophy from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Morris has written a series of rollicking novels based on the old Arthurian legends of Thomas Mallory and other writers. Where these older sources seek seriousness of purpose and embroil their tales in allegory, Morris's more modern versions concentrate on the humanity of secondary characters and the way in which great quests sometimes boil down to small moments of self-discovery.
In his first book for children, The Squire's Tale, Morris uses the Arthurian legend as inspiration for his story about a young lad who serves as a squire for Sir Gawain. Uncertain of his parentage, fourteen-year-old Terence decides to leave the wizard who raised him and join Sir Gawain on his quest to become The Maiden's Knight. As he follows the adventures of the future Knight of the Round Table, Terence not only discovers who his real parents are but also what his destiny will be.
Terence and Gawain continue their adventures in The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady, a sequel to The Squire's Tale. In this story, Sir Gawain accepts a challenge in King Arthur's stead to meet the Knight of the Green Chapel and sets out to find him with the assistance of his young squire, Terence. The two are joined in their quest by Lady Eileen, after rescuing her from her evil uncle. Together, the trio encounters a cannibal hag, a sea monster, the treacherous Marquis of Alva, and the Green Knight in disguise at an enchanted castle.
Another episode from Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur forms the basis for The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf. Sixteen-year-old Lady Lynet travels to Camelot in the company of a wise dwarf, in the hopes that some knight will come to the aid of her besieged home. Lynet finds little sympathy at Arthur's court beyond a ragged kitchen servant named Beaumains. Beaumains is actually a brash knight in disguise, however, and if Lynet can keep him from picking quarrels with every other knight he meets on the way, he might actually be the hero she needs to defeat the villain.
Parsifal's Page offers a new spin on another Arthurian hero, again from the point of view of his servant. The son of a blacksmith, Piers longs for a more noble life and thinks he has found his chance when he becomes a page to the ignorant and backward Parsifal. When Piers's attempts to educate Parsifal backfire and cause Piers to be fired, he joins forces with Gawain and Terence. Together they try to locate Parsifal, who is missing and presumed to be in danger.
Gerald’s second series, The Knights' Tales, began with The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great, which was published in 2008, followed by The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short. His most recently published book from this series is The Adventures of Sir Balin the Illinois-Fated, published in 2012.
In addition to writing, Morris worked at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary as an adjunct professor of Hebrew and biblical interpretation, at Ouachita Baptist University as an assistant professor of biblical studies, a teacher at Christian school in Arkadelphia and pastor at First Baptist Church. Currently, he serves as a minister in a church.
Quotations: "I began my first novel when I was in the eighth grade. It was a perfectly dreadful western in which sharp-eyed gunslingers squinted into the sun and tough-as-boot-leather old-timers called people 'young 'un' and spat into the dust. The early chapters were, providentially, lost."
Gerald Morris is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, American Academy of Religion, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.
Gerald Morris married Rebecca Hughes, a registered nurse, on August 2, 1986. Their marriage produced three children - William, Ethan and Grace.