About Elaine Viets:
Elaine Viets is a Midwestern American newspaperwoman and mystery writer. A native of the working-class white southside of St. Louis, Missouri, the statuesque (almost two meters) Viets has a degree in journalism and became a long-time popular media figure in St. Louis. She was a regular columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for twenty-five years, her columns focusing mostly on local issues and human-interest fare. She also hosted the local light-news television program Viets Beat, for which she won Emmy Awards in 1989 and 1990.[citation needed] After moving to Washington, D.C. and leaving the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Viets wrote a syndicated column carried by United Feature Syndicate and later by United Media.