Georgia defense attorney McCracken Poston Jr. will visit Poe & Company Bookstore in Milton on Thursday, Oct. 15. He will discuss his memoir about defending a reclusive TV repairman accused of killing his wife.

The event starts at 6 p.m. at the family-owned Crabapple bookstore, located at 1890 Heritage Walk, Suite P101, the North Atlanta Star reported. General admission is free. A $20 ticket includes a copy of the book. Readers can reserve a spot through the bookstore's website.

Poston's book, "Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom," tells the story of Alvin Ridley, a TV repairman in Ringgold, Georgia, who sold and fixed Zenith televisions. Ridley was charged with murdering his wife, Virginia, after her death in October 1997. She had not been seen in public for nearly 30 years, and most people in Ringgold did not know Ridley had a wife.

Poston, who knew Ridley as the man who repaired his family's television, took the case. After more than a year of gaining access to Ridley's home, Poston found Virginia's 30-year looseleaf diary. It documented why she avoided going out and why she skipped her own father's funeral. Evidence at trial showed Virginia had epilepsy and died during a seizure. A jury in Ringgold acquitted Ridley in January 1999.

"The intersection of undiagnosed autism and our criminal justice system is a dangerous place," Poston said in written answers to the North Atlanta Star ahead of his Milton appearance.

That line carries personal weight. More than 21 years after the trial, a former juror who had become a nurse in Alaska recommended Ridley be evaluated for autism spectrum disorder. He was diagnosed at 78. Ridley died on July 2, 2024, at 82, four months after the hardcover edition was published.

Ridley left his entire estate to establish a scholarship for local students on the autism spectrum, according to the book's official website. The scholarship is overseen by The Generosity Trust.

Poston served four terms in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1989 to 1997 and holds a law degree from the University of Georgia. The Ridley case drew national coverage on CNN Presents, Dateline NBC, A&E's American Justice, Forensic Files and NPR's Snap Judgment.

The book has won multiple awards, including the 2026 International Impact Book Award for biography and legal writing and the 2025 Georgia Independent Author of the Year for memoir. A new paperback edition, released Sept. 29, includes material about Ridley's final days.

The Oct. 15 event will include a reading, audience questions and a book signing, according to Poston's publicist, Jonathan Shipley.

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