Margaret Press
American novelist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Margaret Press (born 31 March 1947)[1] is a forensic genealogist[2] and an author of both true crime and mystery novels.[3][4] She is also known for co-founding the DNA Doe Project with Colleen M. Fitzpatrick.[5]
Early life and education
Raised in Pasadena, California, Press earned a bachelor's degree in linguistics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1968, and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1974.,[6] with thesis work based on extensive field work in Chemehuevi, a nearly extinct dialect of the Uto-Aztecan family.[7][8]
Career
After graduate school, Press worked as a speech and language specialist at a Boston-area school for multi-handicapped children. Later, she was a software engineer in financial services and also an author of mystery novels and true crime nonfiction.[9][10][11]
Press became interested in forensic DNA genealogy analysis after relocating from Salem, Massachusetts, to Sebastopol, California, to live near family.[6] She had begun working in genetic genealogy in 2007, helping friends and acquaintances find relatives, as well as helping adoptees find their biological parents.[6] Inspired by Sue Grafton's novel "Q" Is for Quarry, about a Jane Doe, Press became interested in using genetic genealogy to also identify unidentified homicide victims.[12][13]
This interest soon led to her co-founding, with Colleen M. Fitzpatrick, the DNA Doe Project, incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation in 2017, of which she remains a board member.[7][8]
Published works
- Press, Margaret L. Elegy for a Thief: A Detective Sergeant Gabriel Dunn Mystery. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1993. Print.[9] ISBN 0-88184-949-9
- Press, Margaret L. Requiem for a Postman. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1992.[10] ISBN 0-88184-750-X
- Press, Margaret L, and Joan N. Pinkham. Counterpoint: A Murder in Massachusetts Bay. Omaha, Neb: Addicus Books, 1996.[11] ISBN 1-886039-24-0
- Press, Margaret L and Joan N. Pinkham. A Scream on the Water: A True Story of Murder in Salem. New York, NY: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1997. ISBN 0-312-96299-1