John Sandford

John Sandford (February 23, 1944-) grew up in Iowa and attended the University of Iowa, first earning and bachelor’s degree in American Studies and then a master’s degree in journalism. Between earning his degrees, Sandford served in Korea with the United States Army. He began his career as a journalist in the army and later wrote for The Miami Herald and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In addition to journalism and novel writing, Sandford is interested in art, photography, and archaeology, funding the Beth-Shean Valley Archaeological Project in the Jordan River Valley.

A publisher asked Sandford, whose real name is John Roswell Camp, to choose a pseudonym for one of his first novels, Rules of Prey, for marketing reasons since Sandford was publishing a second book with a different publisher around the same time. Sandford has written over forty novels, including the popular Prey series, featuring Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis detective. Many of his novels have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list, and he won Pulitzer Prize for his journalism.