Scott Turow

Scott Turow is a writer and attorney. He is the author of ten best-selling works of fiction, including his first novel Presumed Innocent (1987) and its sequel, Innocent (May 4, 2010), and his newest novel Identical(2013). His works of non-fiction include One L (1977) about his experience as a law student, and Ultimate Punishment (2003), a reflection on the death penalty. He frequently contributes essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Playboy and The Atlantic. Mr. Turow's books have won a number of literary awards, including the Heartland Prize in 2003 for Reversible Errors, the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 2004 for Ultimate Punishment and Time Magazine's Best Work of Fiction, 1999 for Personal Injuries. His books have been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies world-wide and have been adapted into a full length film and two television miniseries.

Mr. Turow continues to work as an attorney. He has been a partner in the Chicago office of an international firm, Dentons (formerly Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal), since 1986, concentrating on white collar criminal defense while also devoting a substantial amount of time to pro bono matters.

Scott Turow was born in Chicago in 1949. He graduated with high honors from Amherst College in 1970. He was Edith Mirrielees Fellow at Stanford University Creative Writing Center from 1970 - 1972. From 1972 - 1975, Mr. Turow taught Creative Writing at Stanford as E. H. Jones Lecturer. In 1975, he entered Harvard Law School and graduated with honors in 1978. From 1978 - 1986, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago and served as lead counsel in a number of prosecutions related to corruption in the legal profession connected to Operation Greylord, a federal investigation of corruption into the Illinois judiciary.

Mr. Turow has been active in a number of charitable causes including organizations that promote literacy, education and legal rights. In 1997 - 1998, he served as president of the Authors Guild, the nation's largest membership organization of professional writers and served as President once again from 2010-2014. He is an Emeritus Trustee of Amherst College.

Additionally, he performs with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a musical group of best seller authors raising funds for various literacy charities. As Dave Barry puts it: "We play music about as well as Metallica writes novels."

Mr. Turow has been appointed to a number of public bodies. He was the first Chair of Illinois' Executive Ethics Commission. He served as one of the fourteen members of the Commission appointed in March, 2000, by Illinois Governor George Ryan to consider reform of the capital punishment system. Scott Turow has three adult children. He lives outside Chicago.

For more about Scott and his works, go to http://www.scottturow.com/