Sara Paretsky

By creating a strong female investigator who uses her wits as well as her fists, Paretsky challenged the conventions of a genre in which women traditionally were either vamps or victims. The challenge struck a cord and "Indemnity Only" was hailed by critics and fans. Nine other Warshawski novels followed, all national bestsellers. "The Los Angeles Times" says, "Paretsky is unique among the women writing about women," while "Publishers Weekly" claims, "Among today's P.I.'s nobody comes close to Warshawski." "Total Recall" was published in 2001 and her new book "Blacklist" is due out in the fall of 2003.

In addition to her Warshawski novels, Paretsky's has written a non-series novel, "Ghost Country," which blends comedy, magic, and a gritty realism in a riotous ride along Chicago's mean streets. She has also edited three collections of short stories and her books are published in twenty-four languages.

Paretsky's deep-rooted concern for social justice, the hallmark of her novels, has carried her voice far beyond the world of crime fiction. As a frequent contributor to "The New York Times'" op-ed page, and a speaker at such places as the Library of Congress, Oxford University and the University of Chicago, she is an impassioned advocate for those on society's margins.

Not only has Paretsky broken barriers with her work, she has also helped open doors for other women writers in the field. Her role in founding Sisters in Crime, an organization that supports women mystery writers, caused "Ms." magazine to name her Woman of the Year in 1988. In 2002, the British Crime Writers Association awarded her the Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. Paretsky has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and a visiting professor at Northwestern University. Her work is celebrated in Pamela Beere Briggs's 2000 documentary, "Women of Mystery." She has received three honorary doctorates, most recently, in June 2002, from Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, IL.

To give back to the community, Paretsky has established several scholarships at the University of Kansas, one in a residence hall, including a special prize for students doing creative work in the arts or sciences. In 2001, she established the Sara and Two C-Dogs Foundation, which primarily supports girls and women in the arts, letters and sciences. She has also mentored students in Chicago's inner city schools.

Paretsky grew up in eastern Kansas. She and her four brothers attended a two-room country school, where Paretsky began her lifelong love of baseball and underdogs, playing third base for a school team that always finished at the bottom of its rural league. Her first published writing, which appeared in "The American Girl" magazine when she was eleven, told a tale of surviving a tornado with her schoolmates. While at the University of Kansas, Paretsky went to Chicago to do community service under the direction of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Staying on to make Chicago her home, she received both a doctorate in history and an MBA from the University of Chicago.