Jody Weiner, attorney, writer and producer, wrote the acclaimed novel Prisoners of Truth (National IPPY award for mystery/suspense, Council Oak Books 2004, pb 2006). Along with Dr. Jane Goodall, Dave Soldier, William Shatner and other animal activists, Weiner co-authored Kinship with Animals (COB 2007), an anthology of true interspecies encounters, where he writes about serving as attorney to Koko the signing gorilla accused of sexual harassment. Weiner co-edited Resistance: A Radical Political and Social History of the Lower East Side by Clayton Patterson (2009 Seven Stories Press); he also co-authored Peoplescapes, My Story from Purging to Painting, an illustrated memoir by Nancy Calef with Jody Weiner (Babu Books 2014). Weiner was a consulting producer and wrote additional dialogue for the animated feature film Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil (TWC and Kanbar Ent. 2011); was consulting producer and counsel for the Genesis award-winning documentary A Conversation with Koko (1999); co-produced "Perfect Two," music video by Ceej on Hoodwinked Too! soundtrack; was writer/director of the animated music video "Lost My Mind Again" (2005). Weiner also penned the original comedy screenplay, Heck No! (adapted for streaming series in 2023). His new novel Raise Your Other Right Hand was released in March 2025 by Speaking Volumes, LLC.

Born and raised in Chicago, IL, after eleven years defending criminal cases in state and federal courts, Weiner settled in San Francisco, California to begin writing in earnest and practice civil law. He served as a founding director of the Golda Foundation, a non-profit corporation supporting artists; Weiner currently serves as Board President of San Francisco’s Litquake Foundation, producer of the largest, longest-running annual literary festival west of The Mississippi. Weiner has been collaborating with his wife and partner for thirty-five years, American figurative painter Nancy Calef. Along with Nancy, Weiner operated Live Worms Gallery in San Francisco and managed The Island Resort hotel in Koh Samui, Thailand.

Weiner holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a JD from DePaul University College of Law. He is a member of the California Bar, the Illinois Bar, the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, the District Courts of Northern Illinois and Northern California.

 

 

Awards:

2012   Women's Power Strategy Conference;
           Extraordinary Man Award

2013   Acker Award for Achievement in 
           The Avant Garde - recipient in
           Community Support

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