Scott Turow Author Biographies

Scott Turow was born on April 12, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. He said that he had wanted to write since he was 17 years old. He attended Amherst College where he graduated in 1970. Scott won a scholarship to attend Stanford College Writing Center where he graduated and began teaching creative writing from 1972 to 1975. From 1975 to 1978 he attended Harvard Law School.

He says that he wanted to write and practice law when he realized he was not going to be able to support himself as a writer. During his first year at Harvard, he was commissioned to write a book on his experiences as a first year law student. One L is the published outcome.

Scott married Annette, a painter, in 1971. They have three children. Scott and Annette divorced in 2008.

From 1978 to 1986, Scott Turow was an Assistant US Attorney in Chicago where he prosecuted several high profile cases.

Besides his books, Scott has published many articles including book reviews and a treatise on why he does not believe in the death penalty. In 2003 his book, Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer’s Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty, was published.

Scott Turow is a partner in a large national law firm, Sonnenshein, Nath and Rosenthal. He has worked pro bono cases especially for those wrongfully convicted, such as Alejandro Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez was accused and convicted of a murder and spent 11 years on death row before Scott won his release in 1996. He was also appointed, by then Governor George Ryan, to the commission of capital punishment reform.

Scott is a trustee at Amherst College. He was also the president of the Author’s Guild for a year and still serves on the board. He is very active in charitable causes.

So far three of Scott Turow’s books have been made into Movies: Presumed Innocent (1990), The Burden of Proof (1992) and Reversible Errors (2004).

Scott Turow Books:
Presumed Innocent(1987)
The Burden of Proof (1990)
Pleading Guilty (1993)
The Laws of Our Fathers (1996)
Personal Injuries (1999)
Reversible Errors (2002)
Ordinary Heroes (2005)
Limitations(2006)

Nonfiction:
One L (1977)
Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty(2003)