He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production.

in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006. His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. Received the Shamus Award, 'The Eye' (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America. He also wrote two original 'Rockford Files ' novels. Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France.

He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories.

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