Sol Yurick (1925-2013) was an American author based in New York City, who was best known for novels portraying poverty and urban life in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Manhattan on January 18, 1925, Yurick grew up in the Bronx where he attended the Bronx High School of Science. After high school he enlisted in the United States Army where he trained as a surgical technician during World War II. Following his military service he enrolled in New York University and graduated with a BA in English in 1951. He later received an MA in English from Brooklyn College. Yurick worked for several years as an investigator for the New York City Department of Welfare. His first book, The Warriors, drew from his experience with the Department of Welfare and portrayed gang violence as a product of poverty rather than social dysfunction. Loosely based on the classical Greek story Anabasis, Yurick sought to provide a more accurate portrayal of gang violence that contrasted the glamorized images in pop culture such as West Side Story. The Warriors was later turned into a motion picture in 1979, which garnered a strong cult following.

Yurick's next two novels Fertig (1966) and The Bag (1968) likewise reflected Yurick's views on urban poverty and municipal bureaucracy. Fertig, which tells the story of a father who seeks revenge on hospital administrators and doctors whose neglect contributed to the death of his son, serves as a critique of health care bureaucracy. His novel The Bag focused on race and class relations in 1960s on the streets of New York City. Fertig, was also adapted into a film, which was retitled Confession (1999), and featured Alec Baldwin and Ben Kingsley. Yurick's other works include a collection of short stories titled Someone Just Like You (1972); an anthology titled Voices of Brooklyn (1973); and several novels including, An Island Death (1976), Richard A (1981), and Behold Metatron: The Recording Angel (1985). He also wrote several essays and short stories for the academic journal Social Text, and in the 1960s contributed to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) tract "Who Runs Columbia".

Yurck lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife Adrienne. He died in January of 2013.