Les Standiford is an author and, since 1985, the Founding Director of the

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

Creative Writing Program in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He also holds the Peter Meinke Chair in Creative Writing at

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

. Although his most recent books have been narrative non-fiction historical works, his novels featuring the character "John Deal" put him in the Miami School of crime fiction, whose progenitors are Charles Willeford and John D. MacDonald, and which includes Elmore Leonard, Jeff Lindsay,

Carl Hiaasen Carl Hiaasen (; born March 12, 1953) is an American journalist and novelist. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and by the late 1970s had begun writing novels in his spare time, both for adults and for young-adult readers. Two of his no ...

, James W. Hall,

Paul Levine Paul J. Levine (born January 9, 1948) is an American author of crime fiction, particularly legal thrillers. Levine has written 22 mystery novels which include two series of books known by the names of the protagonists. The ''Jake Lassiter'' ser ...

Edna Buchanan Edna Buchanan (née Rydzik, born March 16, 1939)About Edna Buchanan
Fantastic Fiction. Retri ...

, and Barbara Parker. Standiford's students have included successful novelists

Dennis Lehane Dennis Lehane (born August 4, 1965) is an American author. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, including ''A Drink Before the War''. Of these, four were adapted a ...

, Barbara Parker, Vicki Hendricks, Ginny Rorby, and Neil Plakcy. According to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', in 1976, while he was the chairman of the Creative Writing Program at the

University of Texas El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

, "Standiford gave

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mil ...

his first job ... when Carver was recovering from his infamous alcoholic crash and burn."

Education

Standiford attended the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air for ...

and the

Columbia University School of Law Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, and holds a B.A. in Psychology from

Muskingum College Muskingum University is a private liberal arts college in New Concord, Ohio. Chartered in 1837 as Muskingum College, the institution is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Collectively, the university's alumni are referred to as th ...

in Ohio and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Literature and Creative Writing from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. He is a former screenwriting fellow and graduate of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles."

Awards and associations

According to the biography on his website, Standiford has been awarded the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, the Frank O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Fiction, and a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Fellowship in Fiction. He is a member of the Associated Writing Programs,

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Awa ...

, and the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

."About"
''Les Standiford''

Personal life

Standiford's wife, Kimberly Kurzweil-Standiford, is a psychotherapist and artist. They live in

Pinecrest, Florida Pinecrest is a suburban village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The 2010 U.S. census recorded a population of 18,223; as of 2019, this has increased by over five percent to an estimated 19,155. Pinecrest is governed by a five- ...

, and have three children.

Works

Historical narrative non-fiction

* '' Coral Gables, The City Beautiful Story'' (1998) * 'Opening Day: Or, the Return of

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

'' (2001) * ''Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean.'' (2003) * ''Meet You in Hell:

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

Henry Clay Frick Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a maj ...

, and the Bitter Partnership That Transformed America.'' (2005) * ''The Man Who Invented Christmas: How

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits.'' (2008) * ''Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision for Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army.'' (2008) * ''Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction that Changed America.'', with Joe Matthews (2011) * ''Water to the Angels:

William Mulholland William Mulholland (September 11, 1855 – July 22, 1935) was an Irish American self-taught civil engineer who was responsible for building the infrastructure to provide a water supply that allowed Los Angeles to grow into the largest city in Ca ...

, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles'' (2015) * ''Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu'' (2019)

Novels

John Deal Miami crime novels * ''Done Deal'' (1993) * ''Raw Deal'' (1994) * ''Deal to Die For'' (1995) * ''Deal on Ice'' (1997) * ''Presidential Deal'' (1998) * ''Black Mountain'' (2000) * ''Deal With the Dead'' (2001) * ''Bone Key'' (2002) * ''Havana Run'' (2003) Other novels * ''

Spill A spill occurs when the contents of something, usually in liquid form, are emptied out onto a surface, person or clothes, often unintentionally. Spill may also refer to: * Oil spill *Chemical spill *Data spill *Leadership spill *Spill (audio), wh ...

'' (1991)

Screenplays

* ''Bones of Coral'', written with James W. Hall, based on Hall's novel, purchased ny

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

- Pathé, but never produced * ''Virus'' (1996) based on Standiford's 1991 novel ''Spill'', starring

Brian Bosworth Brian Keith Bosworth (born March 9, 1965), nicknamed "The Boz," is an American former football linebacker and actor who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A two-time Dick Butkus Award winne ...

directed by Allan A. Goldstein, shown on Showtime after its theatrical release

Short stories and articles

According to the biography on his website, "Standiford's short stories and articles have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, including '' Kansas Quarterly'', ''

Writer's Digest ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 under ...

'', '' Fodor's Guide'', ''Smoke Magazine'', the ''Key West Reader'', ''

Confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cult ...

'', ''Three American Literatures'' ( Modern Language Association), ''Perfect Lies: A Century of Classic Golf Fiction'', and ''Communion: Contemporary Fiction Writers Reread the Bible''. He has been a regular reviewer for ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', ''

New York Newsday ''New York Newsday'' was an American daily newspaper that primarily served New York City and was sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The paper, established in 1985, was a New York City-specific offshoot of '' Newsday'', a Long Island ...

'', and the '' New York Daily News''."

Other

* ''Miami, City of Dreams'' (1997) text for photo collection by Alan S. Maltz * ''Naked Came The Manatee'' (1998) contributor to collective novel, with Dave Barry,

Edna Buchanan Edna Buchanan (née Rydzik, born March 16, 1939)About Edna Buchanan
Fantastic Fiction. Retri ...

, Elmore Leonard, others. * ''The Putt At The End of The World'' (2000) collective novel, contributing editor, with Dave Barry, James W. Hall, others * ''Miami Noir'' (2006) editor, short story collection

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Standiford, Les Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American crime fiction writers 21st-century American historians American male novelists Florida International University faculty University of Texas at El Paso faculty Writers from Miami 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Texas Novelists from Florida 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Historians from Florida United States Air Force Academy alumni Columbia Law School alumni Muskingum University alumni University of Utah alumni Eckerd College faculty