Stanley Witkin

Author Bio

Stanley L. Witkin holds an MSW and Ph.D. in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During his tenure as a university professor, he published many scholarly books and authored numerous journal articles and book chapters. He is a two-time Fulbright scholar and the recipient of an honorary doctoral degree in the social sciences from the University of Lapland in Finland.

Stanley has long advocated for writing formats that would be accessible and interesting to a broader audience than other academics. His book, Narrating Social Work Through Autoethnography (selected as a Choice Outstanding Title by the American Library Association), showcased a form of inquiry that uses narrative to explore lived experience from cultural and social perspectives. Now, having retired from full-time teaching, his writing has transitioned to fiction which enables him to continue reflecting on social life in the context of compelling stories.

Stanley’s first novel, Finding Lenny, explored aging, the search for meaning, and relationships. Readers found it to be “an arresting and engaging novel that is powerfully thought provoking” and “one of those novels that stays with you long after you have finished reading it.” His latest novel, The Second Life of Marty Pierson, continues the themes of relationships and meaning as well as exploring loss, grief, compassion, and forgiveness.

When he’s not writing or thinking about the next project, Stanley enjoys reading, watching basketball, movies and mini-series, listening to music, walking, playing with his dog, laughing with his spouse, Frannie, and eating her amazing chocolate chip cookies, and in his more reflective moments, feeling grateful for his good fortune to be living in a wonderful community in a beautiful part of the world.