Les Standiford
Encyclopedia
Les Standiford is a historian and author and has since 1985 been the Director of the Florida International University
Creative Writing Program. Although his most recent works have been narrative non-fiction historical pieces in the style of David McCulloch
, his John Deal novels set him firmly in the Miami School of Crime Fiction whose progenitors are Charles Willeford
and John D. McDonald, and which include Elmore Leonard
, Jeff Lindsey, Carl Hiaasen
, James W. Hall, Paul Levine
and Barbara Parker.
Standiford's students have included successful novelists Dennis Lehane
, Barbara Parker, Ginny Rorby
, and Neil Plakcy. While Chairman of the Creative Writing Program at University of Texas El Paso, "Standiford gave Raymond Carver
his first job in 1976, when Carver was recovering from his infamous alcoholic crash and burn."
Standiford has been awarded 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, and belongs to the Associated Writing Programs, Mystery Writers of America
, and the Writers Guild
.
Standiford's wife, Kimberly Kurzwell-Standiford, is a psychotherapsit and Executive Director of Lauren's Light, a non-profit NGO helping families with young children where a parent has cancer. The Standifords live in Miami, Florida and have two children, Hannah and Jeremy. A second son, Alexander, died in 2009.
, Chicago Tribune
, New York Newsday
, and The New York Daily News
."
Two stories from the Miami Noir collection were selected as Best American Mystery Stories of 2007.Carl Hiaasen, editor
, Columbia University School of Law, and holds a B.A. in Psychology from Muskingum College
in Ohio and the 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."
Florida International University
Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...
Creative Writing Program. Although his most recent works have been narrative non-fiction historical pieces in the style of David McCulloch
David McCulloch
David McCulloch was a Scottish footballer who played for several Scottish and English clubs in the 1930s, most notably Heart of Midlothian, Brentford, Derby County...
, his John Deal novels set him firmly in the Miami School of Crime Fiction whose progenitors are Charles Willeford
Charles Willeford
Charles Ray Willeford III was an American writer. An author of fiction, poetry, autobiography, and literary criticism, Willeford is best known for his series of novels featuring hardboiled detective Hoke Moseley. The first Hoke Moseley book, Miami Blues , is considered one of its era's most...
and John D. McDonald, and which include Elmore Leonard
Elmore Leonard
Elmore John Leonard Jr. , better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.Among his...
, Jeff Lindsey, Carl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen is an American journalist, columnist and novelist.- Early years :Born in 1953 and raised in Plantation, Florida, of Norwegian heritage, Hiaasen was the first of four children and the son of a lawyer, Kermit Odel, and teacher, Patricia...
, James W. Hall, Paul Levine
Paul Levine
Paul Levine is an American author of crime fiction, particularly legal thrillers. His novels have been translated into 21 languages. He has written three series, known generally by the names of the protagonists: "Jake Lassiter," "Solomon and Lord," and “Jimmy Payne.”Lassiter, a Miami Dolphins...
and Barbara Parker.
Standiford's students have included successful novelists Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane is an American author. He has written several award-winning novels, including A Drink Before the War and the New York Times bestseller Mystic River, which was later made into an Academy Award-winning film. Another novel, Gone, Baby, Gone, was also adapted into an Academy...
, Barbara Parker, Ginny Rorby
Ginny Rorby
Ginny Rorby is an American young adult novelist. She was raised in Winter Park, Florida and lived in Miami during her career as a Pan American flight attendant. She studied biology at the University of Miami and went on to receive an M.F.A. in creative writing from Florida International University...
, and Neil Plakcy. While Chairman of the Creative Writing Program at University of Texas El Paso, "Standiford gave Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
his first job in 1976, when Carver was recovering from his infamous alcoholic crash and burn."
Standiford has been awarded the Frank O'Connor
Frank O'Connor
Frank O’Connor was an Irish author of over 150 works, best known for his short stories and memoirs.-Early life:...
Award for Short Fiction, a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Fiction, and a National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Fellowship in Fiction, and belongs to the Associated Writing Programs, Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
, and the Writers Guild
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
.
Standiford's wife, Kimberly Kurzwell-Standiford, is a psychotherapsit and Executive Director of Lauren's Light, a non-profit NGO helping families with young children where a parent has cancer. The Standifords live in Miami, Florida and have two children, Hannah and Jeremy. A second son, Alexander, died in 2009.
Historical Narrative Non-Fiction
- Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction that Changed America. (with Joe Matthews) 2011
- The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens'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
- Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Transformed America. 2005
- Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean. 2003
- Coral Gables, The City Beautiful Story 1998
The 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
Screenplays
- "Bones of Coral," with James W. Hall, based on the novel by James W. Hall, purchased ny MGM-Pathe, but never produced
- "Virus," 1996 based on Standiford's 1991 novel Spill, starring Brian BosworthBrian BosworthBrian Keith "The Boz" Bosworth, is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for the University of Oklahoma...
directed by Allan A. Goldstein, shown on Showtime after its theatrical release
Short Stories and Articles
"Standiford's short stories and articles have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, including The 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 HeraldThe Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, New York Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, and The New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
."
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 BarryDave BarryDavid "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...
, Edna BuchananEdna BuchananEdna Buchanan is an American journalist and author best known for her crime mystery novels.She was born in Paterson, New Jersey and attended Montclair State College. As one of the first female crime journalists in Miami, she wrote for the Miami Beach Daily Sun and the Miami Herald as a general...
, Elmore Leonard, others. - The Putt At The End of The World 2000, collective novel, Contributing Editor, with Dave Barry, James W. Hall, others
- Opening Day 2001, e-book
- Miami Noir Editor, 2006, short story collection
Two stories from the Miami Noir collection were selected as Best American Mystery Stories of 2007.Carl Hiaasen, editor
Education
Standiford attended the Air Force AcademyAir 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 air preparting to be commissioned officers in a national air force...
, Columbia University School of Law, and holds a B.A. in Psychology from Muskingum College
Muskingum College
Muskingum University is a private four-year comprehensive college with a strong liberal arts tradition located in New Concord, Ohio, approximately sixty miles east of the state capital of Columbus. Founded in 1837, Muskingum University is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church , although since the...
in Ohio and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
. He is a former screenwriting fellow and graduate of the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
in Los Angeles."
External links
- Grand Standiford Station http://grandstandifordstation.blogspot.com/