In 1968, in the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., he escaped the North Ave. riots in Baltimore with only his manuscript and guitar before his block was burned down.
It saw some favorable responses from critics, including praise from The New York Times, before being pulled from theaters after only one week.
David Milch read the screenplay and offered Ward a job on Hill Street Blues.
While living in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco he began working on his first novel, Shedding Skin, before moving back to Baltimore for its completion.
During this period, he wrote his novel Cattle Annie and Little Britches as well as the screenplay for the feature film based on the book.
After the publication of his fourth novel, Red Baker, in 1985 he was approached by David Milch and offered a job to write for Hill Street Blues.