Ohio Connection: Birth
Cleveland
Born and raised in Cleveland, Deanne Stillman is a critically-acclaimed writer of essays, place-based literary nonfiction. One of her books, Blood Brothers: The Story of the Strange Friendship Between Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill (published by Simon and Schuster) won the 2018 Ohioana Award for Nonfiction, received a starred review in Kirkus, was excerpted in Newsweek, received raves from publications as diverse as the LA Review of Books to Lakota Times, appeared on several “best of the year” lists, and was praised by fellow Ohio author Douglas Brinkley among many others.
Her books cover a wide variety of topics. Twentynine Palms: A True Story of Murder, Marines, and the Mojave (a Los Angeles Times bestseller and ‘best book of the year’) which Hunter S. Thompson called ‘A strange and brilliant story by an important American writer’; Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West (another LA Times ‘best book of the year’) was praised by Tony Hillerman and Ian Frazier and is available as an audiobook featuring numerous voice actors, including Frances Fisher and Anjelica Huston. The book launched the ongoing conversation about wild horses in the West and has led directly to the rescue of wild horses in slaughter pipelines. A copy of Mustang was given as a gift directly to President Obama himself. Desert Reckoning: A Town Sheriff, a Mojave Hermit, and the Biggest Manhunt in Modern California History, based on a Rolling Stone piece, was an Amazon editors’ pick, Southwest Book of the Year, and winner of the Spur and LA Press Club Awards. American Confidential: Uncovering the Bizarre Story of Lee Harvey Oswald and his Mother was featured in The Daily Beast and cited in Air Mail for its “dazzling and evocative prose.”
Stillman’s essays — some of which discuss her growing up in Ohio — have appeared in the Washington Monthly, UK Independent, Rolling Stone, New York Times, LA Times, LA Review of Books (as a contributing editor), High Country News, Harper’s, and many other publications. Her work has also been selected for various anthologies, including three “Notable” listings in Best American Essays. Additionally, .
Her plays have been produced and won prizes around the country, and Stillman has also written for film and television, including Sarah Jessica Parker’s first series, Square Pegs.
Stillman is a founder of the UC Riverside-Palm Desert Low Residency MFA Creative Writing Program, where she taught for 13 years until being laid off during the pandemic. As a side note, Stillman was Congressman Mark Takano’s thesis advisor. Her work is taught in college classes across the country.
Stillman currently resides in California.
Selected Essays
“How I Almost Had Dinner with Dave Letterman, and Walked Away” by Deanne Stillman (talks about the author’s Ohio childhood). Women Writers, Women[‘s] Books, June 6, 2024. (Reprint, first published at LA Review of Books, December 25, 2019)
“Manuscript Rescued by Desert Angels from Freak Storm” by Deanne Stillman. Indiebound.org. (The author writes about creating Twentynine Palms and growing up in Cleveland)
“Ohio Girl: How I Traveled the N.Y.–L.A. Fault Line and Got Home” by Deanne Stillman. Angels Flight Literary West, February 29, 2016. (More on growing up in Ohio)
Additional Resources: Author Interviews
Panel Discussion on Investigative Journalism at 2014 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, C-SPAN, April 12, 2014. (Stillman was a member of the panel, representing her Desert Reckoning. She is featured at see 11:17, 24:26, 45:12, and 58:14)
“Reconciling America’s Original Sin: The Millions Interviews (with) Deanne Stillman.” The Millions, Bill Morris. November 7, 2017
““Locked Out of Time”: A Conversation with Deanne Stillman.” Los Angeles Review of Books, By Heather Scott Partington. January 5, 2018