T.S.Stribling was born in Clifton, Tennessee, in 1881, to a family whose loyalties were split during the Civil War. He graduated from Florence Normal School, which is now known as the University of North Alabama, in 1902. He moved to Tuscaloosa in 1903, where he taught high school and studied law at the University of Alabama School of Law. He practiced law until 1907, when he switched to full-time writing. His Vaiden Trilogy is regarded as his magnum masterpiece, with The Store, the second novel in the trilogy, winning the Pulitzer Prize. He had published more than twelve books by the time he died, one of which was a Book-of-the-Month Club pick, two Literary Guild selections, and another which was the first book by an American to be selected by the English Book League.