Jordan Lucius Rodale was born July 17, 1962 to Thomas Rodale and Margaret "Margie" Rodale in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Jordan's father, a civil engineer, married his mother two years after she was widowed. The small family included a son, Devlin, from Margie's first marriage, at the time of Jordan's birth. In 1968, Thomas Rodale moved the family to Oxford, Mississippi, where Jordan remained until he left for college.

The school years in Oxford were difficult for Jordan, who realized at an early age that he was homosexual. The small, southern town could be harsh to boys who just didn't fit in and Jordan often noticed the stares and heard the whispers when he walked down the street. An additional strain on his life was the popularity and notoriety of his older brother. Devlin had been a top high school baseball player and although it was never said overtly, Jordan often heard the "why can't you be like your brother" tones in his family's voice.

Jordan escaped the confines of Oxford when he headed north for college in 1980. Always an exceptional student, Jordan had especially excelled in the humanities. Upon graduation, he accepted a scholarship to Bennington College in Vermont. While at Bennington, Jordan was able to relax and enjoy the freedom of the liberal campus. An Advanced Composition class his sophomore year proved a pivotal life experience for Jordan.

The Beauchamp-Rodale family had always been surrounded by the written word. Margie Rodale encouraged both her sons to read extensively and she provided them with volumes of literary masterpieces. Margie herself was a prodigious letter and diary writer. Every day after lunch, she sat down at her desk and wrote letters to friends and family alike. But it was in the evenings when her true literary passion appeared. Margie would clean up from dinner, put the boys to bed, pour a glass of wine and sit down to write in her journal. Sometimes, these sessions would only last a couple of hours, other times, she would scribble until early in the morning. Jordan had many memories of being unable to sleep and finding his mother at her desk, hunched over the leather bound notebooks she kept. Although he was unaware of any obvious literary facility while he was growing up, in that sophomore English class at Bennington, Jordan discovered that he had a real talent for essays and memoirs.

It was also in that Advanced Composition class that Jordan met his first real lover. During high school, Jordan had shared brief stolen moments with different boys here and there. These trysts were almost always unsuccessful fumblings followed by embarrassed avoidance and, sometimes, outright hostility. But, seated next to him in Room 206 of Deaton Hall, was Vasca Pellerano. Vasca was the blond son of a Spanish politician. Tall and slender, his fair skin often shocked people expecting the typical Hispanic complexion. As the leaves fell and the days grew colder, the two students formed a friendship that blossomed into romance during the fall semester exams.

Vasca introduced Jordan to detailed study of history. Of course, growing up in the south, Jordan had been surrounded by ghosts of the past his entire life. But Vasca showed him that history and the past could be interesting and fun instead of just a burden. Through Vasca's love of history, Jordan began reading historical novels. And he began to write stories set in past times.

All Bennington students must complete a senior project. Some students create art exhibits and others conduct business studies of some sort. In May before he began his senior year, Jordan embarked on an ambitious project to write a novel about Spanish explorers as they combed the earth in search of gold. With Vasca assisting in the research, Jordan completed a massive 600-page novel by January. February and March saw the two lovers spending the cold days in McFarlane Hall, editing and re-writing the novel.

An admiring writing professor made some calls and almost before Jordan knew what was happening, Conquistador Maps was snatched up by a major publishing firm. Advance checks were cashed and suddenly Jordan was achieving recognition as a writer. However, these happy times were tainted by Vasca's return to Spain. He had been groomed his entire life to take over for his father in leading the party. And Jordan was not willing to leave behind his country and his emerging career as a writer to move to Spain. So, the two lovers achingly parted, a copy of Conquistador Maps tenderly wrapped in Vasca's suitcase.

After the breakup, Jordan returned to Oxford to gather himself. He didn't have any plan about where he should live or what he should do next. During that spring of 1986, Jordan found himself feeling more and more relaxed in Oxford. He found that it was certainly easier to be a gay adult in the artistic circles of Oxford than to be a gay boy in the city high schools. His reputation as a writer also helped Jordan's acceptance in the literature-loving town. This reputation was cemented when, in 1988, Jordan published Love in the Shadow of the Guillotine. As with his first novel, this book was a moderate success. Jordan was quickly becoming known as a writer who put out enjoyable books that were a couple of steps up from romance-paperback-trash, but several steps down from the lofty heights Oxford's other writers had achieved. Promoting heavily researched settings, Jordan's novels featured adventure and love amidst finely honed period details. And if the prudish Widow McIntyre and her Ladies of the Garden Club loved his work without noticing the homosexual subtexts, then so what? Everyone was able to find enjoyment in his books.

In 1990, Jordan's brother Devlin moved back to Oxford after their mother suffered a debilitating stroke. Devlin had also suffered through a difficult breakup, so the two brothers who were so incredibly different now had something in common. However, this similarity did not bridge the gap between the two men. They rarely spoke and usually only on matters relating to the care of their mother.

When Margie Rodale passed away in 1991, the two brothers decided to try and rebuild their relationship. However, it always seemed as if some obstacle was blocking their path. Finally, Devlin had grudgingly accepted his brother's homosexuality and it appeared as though they might begin to share a relationship. However, when Margie Rodale's will was read, it destroyed all progress the two men had made.

No one ever knew if Margie's attitudes were a result of Jordan's homosexuality or if Devlin was simply her favorite, but when the lawyer uttered the words "I leave all my worldly possessions to my first born son, Devlin" the two men were irrevocably separated. An ugly court battle ensued, with Jordan suing for various parts of his mother's estate. After several months in court, Devlin finally agreed to give Jordan some small pieces of the estate. He often told friends that he was only "throwing a few bones" to Jordan just so they could get out of court.

Jordan's third novel, March of the Crusaders, was published in 1994. Even though it essentially told the same story as the first two successful books, this one did not even dent the bestseller lists. Hoping to quickly erase the failure, Jordan accepted a sizable advance for another novel. After spending many furious nights at his computer, Jordan submitted Panning for Gold in early 1996. This tale of the gold rush was poorly researched and even more poorly written. Jordan's agent reluctantly told him that the publishers wanted him to return the advance or they would sue for breach of contract. Jordan paid back his publisher but wiped out all the money he had in doing so.

Jordan's difficulties were further aggravated by his brother's success. In the mid-1990's, Devlin's Home Plate barbecue restaurant was doing well financially and receiving rave reviews in the culinary press. However, in 1997, Jordan's personal life received a boost when he met Memphis architect Bennett Estes Kauffman at a party. The two men began dating and often traveled to exotic vacation spots together. As much as Bennett's presence improved Jordan's life, it was draining him financially. He had never really recovered from paying back the publisher's advance and the royalties on his first books were not nearly enough to allow him to live the way Bennett did. Jordan quickly amassed large debts trying to maintain a high society lifestyle.

With mounting debts, Jordan worked out a deal with a publisher to generate some desperately needed funds. Jordan would cash in on the memoir craze by writing a book about his family. He would tell the story of growing up gay in a small southern town. And to add extra interest in the book, he would weave in stories of his mother's life. Taking a cue from James Ellroy's success, Jordan decided he would try to solve the mysterious circumstances surround the death of Margie Rodale's first husband.

The publisher was initially skeptical of this proposed book project. However, when Jordan said that he could include pieces of his mother's voluminous journals, an advance check was issued. In late 1998, Jordan began working on this book and he asked Devlin for the journals.

Yet, Devlin refused to give up the journals. He viewed these as the most private and most personal items that his mother had left to him. It was one thing to give Jordan a few meaningless baubles like paintings and dishes, and quite another to give up his mother's innermost thoughts. Additionally, Devlin had inherited his mother's tendency to write diaries and he viewed any types of journals as his personal territory. No matter how much Jordan begged, pleaded, and threatened, Devlin refused to give up the journals.

By late 1999, Jordan had reached an impasse on his book. He had written all he could without the journals and he had also spent all the money from the advance. He felt this book was going to be a best seller of huge proportions. Thinking of all the fortunes that would come his way when the book was published, Jordan spent prodigiously. Not only had he spent the entire advance, he was even further in debt than before. Now the book was stalled and there was no way he would be able to pay back the advance. There simply was no alternative to getting the journals and finishing the book.

Jordan continued to argue with his brother concerning the journals. In fact, the two men had exchanged heated comments about the journals at an Oxford restaurant the day Devlin was murdered.