Mark Zubro

There are many examples of fine educators who have become successful authors. One of these is Mark Richard Zubro, a junior high school English teacher from Illinois who has earned a name as a celebrated author of bestselling mysteries.

Mark was born in Racine, Wisconsin, on August 9, 1948. When he was 13, his family moved to California, where the young boy was enrolled in Notre Dame High School, a private Catholic high school located in Riverside. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1966. Mark then enrolled in St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in English in 1970. Six years later, he earned his Master’s degree in Urban Teacher Education from Governors State University in University Park, Illinois. Mark was a teacher of English at Summit Hill Junior High in Frankfort Square, Illinois, in a career that spanned 34 years. He retired in 2006.

Mark’s novels have settings in the Chicago area of Illinois. His work has been widely praised as fast-paced, featuring engaging plots and well-rounded, personable characters. Typically treating gay themes, Mark’s longest running series features a high school teacher, Tom Mason, and Tom’s boyfriend, a professional baseball player named Scott Carpenter. The other series Mark is well known for is the Paul Turner mysteries, which are about a police detective from Chicago.

For his novel A Simple Suburban Murder, Mark earned a Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men’s Mystery. The Lambda Literary Awards recognize the best books published with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender themes.

You can read more about this talented educator and gifted author in this interview published by the Windy City Times.