Dennis Lehane

American author of mysteries and crime novels. Lehane won the Shamus Award for the best first novel in 1994 for "A Drink Before the War"; he was a 2002 finalist for the L.L. Winship/PEN new England Award and the Anthony Award for Best Novel, both for "Mystic River," a best-seller purchased by Clint Eastwood's production company for a movie that began production in September 2002. A 1988 graduate of Eckerd College, Lehane earned his MFA degree in 1993 from Florida International University in Miami while working as an English instructor there. Although he always wanted to be a writer, and began writing stories before age 20, he refused to submit his work to publishers because his work didn't meet his own high standards. He no longer has to support himself by working, as he did in his early career, as a therapeutic counselor for the mentally handicapped and emotionally disturbed children or as a chauffer for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston. Proving to be a prolific, talented and popular writer, he has published six novels since 1994 as well as the film, "Neighborhoods," which he also directed and produced. His writing has been described as "gritty" and "hard-edged" and his plots are generally set in working-class neighborhoods of Boston, the environment in which he himself grew up. He told "Publishers' Weekly" that growing up in Boston during the 1970s and '80s provided "...a sense that life was hard and unfair and you just tried your best." Lehane married his wife Sheila in 1999.

Clint Eastwood made a critically-acclaimed movie based on Lehane's book, "Mystic River" released in late 2003. Lehane was on the set and met the actors and crew, but his head was not turned. A quiet man who shuns the spotlight, he was invited to the Academy Award ceremony but preferred to stay home.

The youngest of five children born to his Irish immigrant parents, Lehane is closest to his next older brother Gerald, an actor.