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I grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, a college town in the western half of the state. Went to public high school then Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. After stints working with refugees in Thailand, prep-school students in Switzerland, and a brief career as a wire-service stringer in Kenya, I settled into magazine journalism in New York City. On staff at Esquire, and freelancing all over town, (including Vanity Fair where I met my wife) I eventually found myself writing mostly about environmental issues, primarily for the National Aububon Magazine.
That work led to my first book, The Adirondacks, A History of America's First Wilderness, which was a New York Times notable book of 1997. My second book, The Enduring Shore, A History of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, was also published by Henry Holt and was well received.
Sometime in between those two books I came across a very brief mention of the Cabeza de Vaca story in an obscure book on the old trails west. I knew immediately that I had to know more about this incredible story of four who survived and crossed America out of 400 who landed in Florida in 1528. That obsession eventually resulted in Brutal Journey, my newest book, which the New York Times called "hard to believe, and impossible to forget." Next was Bonnie and Clyde, which I wrote almost as a non-fiction novel, or oral history. The Oprah magazine called it "a biography so immediate it's almost an act of ventriloquism."
Old Man River: The Mississippi River in North American History, was a labor of love for I grew up goofing around on rivers and have always wanted to write about the great stream in the middle of the country.
What's next? Not sure, but I'm also the editor of Martha's Vineyard Magazine, so I'm keeping busy here in paradise.
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