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Sara Paretsky

Author. Born 1947.

Although she did not achieve one of her highest goals, playing for the Lawrence High School football team, Sara Paretsky has become well-known as one of the best detective novelists around.  Paretsky grew up near Lawrence and attended Kansas University where her father was a distinguished professor of microbiology.  Close to getting a Ph.D in history, she dumped academe, got a day job working for a Chicago insurance company, and began working on being a writer.

Her first book was published in 1982.  There has followed a stream of detective novels featuring Victoria Iphigenia (V.I.) Warshawski, a tough but tender Chicago private investigator.  In 1991 Kathleen Turner appeared as V. I. Warshawski in a movie by the same name.  Sara has written other books, including “Bleeding Kansas,” a dark novel set in the Lawrence area.

Sara still lives in Chicago with her husband as she continues to craft perils for her famous character to overcome.

Entry: Paretsky, Sara

Author: G. Joseph Pierron

Author information: Judge Pierron serves on the Kansas Court of Appeals and has an interest in Kansas history.

Date Created: March 2012

Date Modified: March 2012

The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.