Editing Sara Paretsky (section)

==Life and career==
Paretsky was born in [[Ames, Iowa]]. Her father was a microbiologist and moved the family to [[Kansas]] in 1951 after taking a job at the [[University of Kansas]], where Paretsky eventually graduated. The family rented an old farm house. Her relationship with her parents was strained; her mother was an [[alcoholic]] and her father was a harsh disciplinarian.<ref>Sarah Crown, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/07/sara-paretsky-interview-i-start-each-vi-warshawski-book-convinced-i-cant-do-it Sara Paretsky interview: ‘I start each VI Warshawski book convinced I can’t do it’], The Guardian, 7 August 2015.</ref>

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in [[political science]] from the [[University of Kansas]], she did [[community service]] work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She completed her AM (masters) degree at the [[University of Chicago]] in 1969 and completed a Ph.D. in history there in 1977; her dissertation was titled "The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War". She also earned an [[Master of Business Administration|MBA]] in 1977 from the [[University of Chicago Booth School of Business]].

Her husband, Courtenay Wright, was a professor of [[physics]] at the University of Chicago; the two were together from 1970 until his death in 2018.<ref>Maureen O'Donnell, "Courtenay Wright, University of Chicago physicist, witness to D-Day, dead at 95", ''Chicago Sun Times'', [https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/courtenay-wright-sara-paretsky-university-chicago-physicist-dday-witness-obituary/  Nov 26, 2018]</ref>

Paretsky is an alumna of the [[Ragdale|Ragdale Foundation]].<ref name="Ragdale">{{cite web | year = 2010 | url = http://www.ragdale.org/fictionoz | title = Ragdale Alumni: Writers – Fiction – O-Z | publisher = Ragdale Foundation website | access-date = February 15, 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718020204/http://www.ragdale.org/fictionoz | archive-date = July 18, 2011 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> She was to appear in an amateur light opera production in 2011.<ref name=StateNewsService/>

The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is the female [[private investigator]] [[V.I. Warshawski]], and the author is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel.<ref name=Martin>Martin, Nora (1996). ''[http://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/3/ ""In the business of believing women's stories": Feminism through detective fiction (Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton)"]'' (M.A. thesis) Wilfrid Laurier University</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kinsman |first1=Margaret |title=Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction |date=2016 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-7187-4 |url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/sara-paretsky/ |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>  The Winter 2007 issue of ''Clues: A Journal of Detection'' is devoted to her work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staff.cua.edu/foxwell/Clues/About_Clues.html |title=Clues: A Journal of Detection   |publisher=Staff.cua.edu |access-date=March 5, 2012}}</ref> She is also considered the founding mother of [[Sisters in Crime]], an organization that supports and promotes women in the mystery field.<ref>{{cite web|last=Roberts|first=Lora|title=A History of Sisters in Crime|url=http://www.sistersincrime.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=5|access-date=28 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825145544/http://www.sistersincrime.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=5|archive-date=August 25, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>