American novelist
Les Standiford is an author and, since 1985, the Founding Director of the
Florida International University Creative Writing Program in
Miami ,
Florida .
[1] He also holds the Peter Meinke Chair in Creative Writing at
Eckerd College in
St. Petersburg, Florida .
[2]
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
[3] and
John D. MacDonald , and which includes
Elmore Leonard ,
Jeff Lindsay ,
Carl Hiaasen ,
James W. Hall ,
Paul Levine ,
Edna Buchanan , and
Barbara Parker .
Standiford's students have included novelists
Dennis Lehane ,
Barbara Parker ,
Vicki Hendricks ,
Ginny Rorby , and
Neil Plakcy . According to
Publishers Weekly , in 1976, while he was the chairman of the Creative Writing Program at the
University of Texas El Paso , "Standiford gave
Raymond Carver his first job ... when Carver was recovering from his infamous alcoholic crash and burn."
[4]
Education
Standiford attended the
Air Force Academy and the
Columbia University School of Law , and holds a B.A. in Psychology from
Muskingum College in Ohio and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Literature and Creative Writing from the
University of Utah . He is a former screenwriting fellow and graduate of the
American Film Institute in Los Angeles."
[5]
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 Fellowship in Fiction. He is a member of the
Associated Writing Programs ,
Mystery Writers of America , and the
Writers Guild of America .
[6]
[2]
Personal life
Standiford's wife, Kimberly Kurzweil-Standiford, is a psychotherapist and artist. They live in
Pinecrest, Florida , and have three children.
[2]
Works
Historical narrative non-fiction
Coral Gables , The City Beautiful Story (1998)
''Opening Day: Or, the Return of
Satchel Paige (2001)
Last Train to Paradise:
Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean. (2003)
[7]
Meet You in Hell:
Andrew Carnegie ,
Henry Clay Frick , and the Bitter Partnership That Transformed America. (2005)
[8]
The Man Who Invented Christmas: How
Charles Dickens 's
A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits. (2008)
[9]
Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision for Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army. (2008)
[10]
Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction that Changed America. , with Joe Matthews (2011)
[11]
Water to the Angels:
William Mulholland , His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles (2015)
[12]
Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu (2019)
Novels
John Deal Miami crime novels
[13]
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
Screenplays
Bones of Coral , written with James W. Hall, based on Hall's novel, purchased ny
MGM -
Pathé , but never produced
Virus (1996) based on Standiford's 1991 novel Spill , starring
Brian Bosworth directed by
Allan A. Goldstein , shown on
Showtime after its theatrical release
[14]
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 ,
Fodor's Guide , Smoke Magazine , the Key West Reader ,
Confrontation , 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 ,
Chicago Tribune ,
New York Newsday , and the
New York Daily News ."
[6]
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 , 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
^
"FIU Creative Writing" . Florida International University.
^
a
b
c
"About" Les Standiford
^ Fisher, Marshall Jon (May 2000).
"The Unlikely Father of Miami Crime Fiction" .
Atlantic Monthly .
^ Robertson, Brewster (October 26, 2001).
"Les Standiford: A Handyman Special" .
Publishers Weekly . Archived from
the original on September 28, 2011.
^
"Les Standiford" . Fresh Fiction.
^
a
b
"Les Standiford Biography" . Archived from
the original on 2012-01-04.
^ Kim, Wook (November 15, 2002).
"Book Review Last Train to Paradise" .
EW.com .
^ Finn, Robert (January 7, 2011).
"Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, And the Bitter Partnership That Transformed America by Les Standiford (review)" . BookReporter .
^ Harrison, Kathryn (December 2, 2008).
"Book Review The Man Who Invented Christmas" .
The New York Times .
^ Staff (March 15, 2008).
"How a Frenchman's Vision of Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army by Les Standiford 9review)" .
Kirkus Reviews .
^
Da Silva, Bruce (March 7, 2011).
"Book Review: Bringing Adam Home" .
Associated Press via
Columbus Dispatch .
^ Brown, Liz (March 27, 2015).
"Book Review Water to the Angels" .
Los Angeles Times .
^
"Les Standiford" . Books & Bytes.
^
"Virus (1996)" . IMDb.
External links
International National Other