Author, Michigan Supreme Court Justice. John Voelker was born in Ishpeming, Michigan on June 29, 1903, to George and Anne Voelker. He attended Northern Michigan College from 1924 to 1925 before transferring to the University of Michigan Law School, graduating in 1928. While at the University of Michigan, he met and married Grace Taylor on August 2, 1930, and the couple had three daughters. He spent the next three years in Chicago practicing law before moving his family back to his beloved Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He opened a law practice in the old Woolworth building in his boyhood hometown of Ishpeming. In 1935 he was elected as prosecutor of Marquette County, an office he held for 15 years, becoming one of the county's most popular elected officials. After losing re-election in 1950, he became a defense attorney in a private practice. In 1957, Voelker was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court by Governor G. Mennen. Besides public service, Voelker was an accomplished author. His first published work was a 1934 short story, "Iron," in a magazine. Of his many works, his most famous was "Anatomy of a Murder," published in 1957 and based on one of his defense cases. The courtroom drama was the fourth book that he had published, making the bestseller list. A few years later this book was adapted into a film which in 1960 was nominated for seven Academy Awards. The film starred Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick, was directed by Otto Preminger, and was filmed in Voelker's native Marquette County. In 1960, due to the success of the movie, Voelker resigned from the Michigan Supreme Court. Voelker lived the rest of his life occupied by continuing to write, and by his many other interests, which included fishing, cribbage, piano playing, local history, and Upper Peninsula of Michigan environmental issues. He died of a heart attack on March 8, 1991.