Photo: Heike Huslage-Koch / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Don Winslow was born on October 31, 1953 in New York City, New York, United States and is credited as a screenwriter, novelist and writer. Don Winslow is 72 years old as of 2026. Education on record includes University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Listed accolades include German Crime Fiction Award (2011) and Shamus Award (2000).
My Take
Don Winslow is one of those writers who makes you genuinely angry at how good he is. Born in New York on Halloween 1953 — very on-brand for a guy who spends his career dragging the darkest corners of American crime into the light — he spent decades building toward his masterpiece run: the Cartel Trilogy. The Power of the Dog, The Cartel, and The Border are as close to a Great American Novel about the War on Drugs as anything out there, and I say that without reservation. The Shamus Award in 2000 and the German Crime Fiction Award in 2011 confirm that both sides of the Atlantic caught on. When he announced he was retiring from fiction to focus on political activism, I was honestly heartbroken — but also kind of awed that he walked away at the peak of his powers to go fight a different fight.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Don Winslow
- Name (Japanese)
- ドン・ウィンズロウ
- Reading
- どん・うぃんずろう
- Born
- October 31, 1953 (age 72)
- Origin
- New York City, New York, United States
- Occupation
- screenwriter / novelist / writer / actor / director
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Snake
2. Background
- University
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Awards & achievements
- 2011 German Crime Fiction Award
- 2000 Shamus Award
3. Links
- Official sitehttps://don-winslow.com
- Xhttps://x.com/donwinslow
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%20Winslow
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BA%E3%83%AD%E3%82%A6
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q908571
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Don Winslow born?
Don Winslow was born on October 31, 1953 and is 72 years old.
Where is Don Winslow from?
Don Winslow is from New York City, New York, United States.
What does Don Winslow do?
Don Winslow works as screenwriter, novelist, writer, actor, director.
Where did Don Winslow study?
Don Winslow attended University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
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