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.
