A champion for libraries and writers

“If life's lessons could be reduced to single sentences, there would be no need for fiction.” – Scott Turow

Turow, born on this date in 1949, has written 9 fiction and 2 nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 30 million copies.   Many of his books also have been made into major films.

Always interested in writing and storytelling from his youngest days, he studied writing for part of his collegiate career before deciding on Law School (Harvard).   A one-time Assistant U.S. Attorney in his native Chicago, Turow left the U.S. Attorney's Office in 1986, became a novelist, and wrote the first of his legal thrillers Presumed Innocent.  The 1987 novel was a huge hit and has been followed by such top-sellers as The Burden of Proof, Pleading Guilty, and Personal Injuries.

Turow has won multiple literary awards, most notably the Silver Dagger Award from the British Crime Writers' Association, while also continuing his law career.    Known as a champion of writers’ rights, he is one of the staunchest supporters of public libraries, in which he spent much of his own time as a child.  “I count myself as one of millions of Americans whose life simply would not be the same           without the libraries that supported my learning,” he said.

                   “For thousands and thousands of American kids, libraries are the only safe place they can find to study, a haven free from the dangers of street or the numbing temptations of television. As schools cut back services, the library looms even more important to countless children.”

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