Born: 1948
Ohio connection: Birth
Cincinnati
Jonathan Louis Valin, son of Sigmund and Marcella (Fink) Valin, was born in 1948 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Valin married Katherine Brockhaus in 1971 and did his undergraduate work at the University of Cincinnati; he received an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1974; and did doctoral study at Washington University in St. Louis from 1976 until 1979. Valin became a lecturer in English at the University of Cincinnati, 1974-76, and at Washington University, 1976-79. He has devoted his career solely to writing since 1979. Valin is the author of eleven popular “Harry Stoner” mystery novels: The Lime Pit, Final Notice, Dead Letter,Day of Wrath, Natural Causes, Life’s Work, Fire Lake, Extenuating Circumstances, Second Chance, The Music Lovers, andMissing. He has also written one non-fiction book: Living Stereo: The RCA Bible, A Compendium of Opinion on Living Stereo Records. In recent years, he has focused on research in this field rather than on his fiction writing. The Valins currently reside in Cincinnati.
Awards
Norma Lowry Memorial Fund Prize, 1978, for “Replay”; Shamus Award, Private Eye Writers of America, 1990, for Extenuating Circumstances.