| John Sandford (pseudonym for John Roswell | | | | He once canoed solo from the mouth of the |
| Camp) was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa | | | | Mississippi in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. |
| on February 23, 1944. He graduated from | | | | He has also traveled in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and |
| University of Iowa with a degree in American | | | | Israel. He has been involved in archaeology digs in |
| Studies and went back in 1970-1971 to get a | | | | Beth Shean in Israel and Tel Rehov near the Sea |
| master's degree in journalism. He was married in | | | | of Galilee. He was the photographer and a major |
| 1966 to Susan Lee Jones, also a student at the | | | | financial backer. |
| University of Iowa. They have two children, Emily | | | | In January, 2008, MinnPost partnered with |
| and Roswell. They moved to Minnesota in 1978. | | | | KYSP-TV to send John Sandford and |
| Susan died in 2007. | | | | photojournalist, Eric Bowen, to Baden, Iraq for |
| John did a tour in the United States Army in the | | | | two weeks. They were imbedded with the |
| 1960's stationed in Korea where he worked as a | | | | 2-147th assault helicopter battalion of the |
| newspaper editor. From 1968 to 1990 he has | | | | Minnesota National Guard. The articles he wrote |
| worked as a journalist on various publications. He | | | | can be found on his website. He says he still |
| was named as finalist to win a Pulitzer Prize in | | | | thinks of himself as a journalist. Asked why he |
| 1980 for his study of the Native Americans in | | | | wanted to go, he says, "I'm going to Iraq because |
| Minnesota and North Dakota. He actually won the | | | | I'm interested in the war there, and because I'm |
| Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for a series of articles about | | | | interested in the cultural dynamics in the Middle |
| the farm crisis in the Midwest. After burn-out | | | | East, where I have a good number of friends." |
| from working the crime beat for twenty years, | | | | John Sandford is world renowned for his Prey |
| he was published as an author of two nonfiction | | | | series, Kidd series, and Virgil Flowers series. He |
| books and many books of fiction. He still dabbles | | | | also wrote three stand alone books of fiction, |
| in journalism from time to time. | | | | Dead Watch, Dark of the Moon, and Night Crew. |
| John does extensive travelling for book tours. | | | | He has also published two books of nonfiction, |
| While not travelling, he can be found at his homes | | | | "The Eye and the Heart" and "Plastic Surgery". |
| in Minnesota. He has many varied interests | | | | John's son, Roswell Camp, Designed and maintains |
| including archaeology, fishing, hunting, karate (has a | | | | his website. |
| black belt), and photography amongst other things. | | | | |