Don Winslow
Personal details
  • Born:
    • Birthday: 1953-10-31
    • Born Place: New York, New York, U.S

Don Winslow

Born on October 31, 1953, in New York City, Don Winslow is a celebrated American crime novelist and activist whose diverse life experiences deeply inform his gritty, realistic storytelling. Raised in coastal Rhode Island by a mother who was a librarian and a father who was a sailor, he developed an early love for books and oral history. Winslow’s eclectic career path saw him work as a private investigator in Times Square, a movie theater manager, a safari guide in Kenya, and a director of Shakespearean productions in England before transitioning into a full-time writing career. He earned a degree in African Studies from the University of Nebraska and later a master’s in Military History, academic backgrounds that would eventually ground the meticulous research found in his most famous literary works. Winslow is perhaps best known for his monumental Cartel Trilogy (The Power of the Dog, The Cartel, and The Border), which chronicles the decades-long war on drugs with brutal detail. His bibliography also includes acclaimed novels such as Savages, which was adapted into a film by Oliver Stone, and The Force, a sharp examination of police corruption. In recent years, he published a trilogy inspired by Greek classics, starting with City on Fire, which he described as his final foray into fiction. Though he announced his retirement in 2022 to focus on political activism and filmmaking, he recently surprised fans by announcing a new collection of short novels titled The Final Score, slated for release in 2026.

Person History