Mark Kurlansky
 Mark Kurlansky (born 7 December 1948 in Hartford Connecticut) is an American journalist and writer of general interest non-fiction. Kurlansky's newest book Ready For a Brand New Beat: How Dancing in the Street Became the Anthem for a Changing America was released July 2013 from Riverhead Books.Kurlansky attended Butler University where he harbored an early interest in theatre and earned a BA in 1970. However his interest faded and he began to work as a journalist in the 1970s.