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Nebraska Authors

Don Winslow

Born 1953 New York, NY (USA)

Winslow attended The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, beginning in the Journalism program in 1971. He transferred to the University Studies program to pursue African History, graduating in 1975. He married a Nebraskan, moved back east, and worked as a private investigator, theater manager and safari tour manager in Kenya. Winslow returned to UNL where he received a Masters Degree in Military History in 1982. He has co-authored a book with UNL Professor Pete Maslowski, Looking for a Hero: Staff Sergeant Joe Ronnie Hooper and the Vietnam War, 2005. He moved to California and has become a very successful writer of crime and thriller novels.

In the 1970s Winslow toured and performed throughout Nebraska with the Pied Pipers, a theatrical group that drew large audiences, mainly of children but also adults. He told an interviewer that he hated the film adaptation of his 2010 book Bobby Z.. Savages has been called a break-out book by reviewers, and a "stylistic leap" by Winslow himself.

See also David Wiltse, Alex Kava.

Places Lived

Lincoln, NE (1971-1988)
Connecticut
Rhode Island
New York, NY
Southern California
KENYA

Author Of

  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction

Keywords

Fiction; Military History; Crime Fiction; Thrillers; Mysteries

Education

Bachelor of Arts Degree, 1975, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Master of Arts Degree in Military History, 1982, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

Occupation

Tour Guide for student groups
Theater Manager
Private Detective
Writer
Researcher
Performer

Places Worked

Lincoln, NE
New York, NY

Honors

Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination, Mystery Writers of America, 1991, for A Cool Breeze on the Underground.
Shamus Award, Private Eye Writers of America, 2000, for California Fire and Life.

Associations

Don Winslow, Don Young, and Don Wesley were known as The Three Dons

Bibliography

A Cool Breeze on the Underground. 1991.
The Trail to Buddha's Mirror. 1992.
Way Down on the High Lonely. 1993.
A Long Walk up the Water Slide. 1994.
While Drowning in the Desert. 1996.
The Death and Life of Bobby Z. 1997.
California Fire and Life. 1999.
The Power of the Dog. 2005.
The Dawn Patrol. 2008.
Savages. 2010.
Satori. 2011.
The Gentleman's Hour. 2009.
The Kings of Cool. 2012.
The Cartel. 2015.
The Force: A Novel. 2017.
The Border. 2019.
Broken.2020.

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Don Winslow
don-winslow

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(e.g. Author is buried in Fremont, not in David City / Also wrote for the Daily Nebraskan during her time as a student)