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kurlansky new york city , july 11 , 2013 at a barnes & noble book signing , markkurlansky01.jpg mark kurlansky

mark kurlansky

mark kurlansky -lrb- born december 7 , 1948 -rrb- is an american journalist and writer of general interest non-fiction .
kurlansky 's latest book , `` city beasts : fourteen stories of uninvited wildlife '' was published in february , 2015 .
kurlansky was born in hartford , connecticut .
he 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 .
during the '70s he worked as a correspondent in western europe for the `` miami herald '' , `` the philadelphia inquirer '' , and eventually the paris-based `` international herald tribune '' .
he moved to mexico in 1982 where he continued to do journalism .
he wrote his first book , `` a continent of islands '' , in 1992 and went on to write several books throughout the 1990s .
his 1997 book `` cod '' was an international bestseller and was translated into more than 15 languages .
his work and contribution to basque identity and culture is recognized in the basque hall of fame .
kurlansky as a teenager called Émile zola his `` hero '' , and in 2009 kurlansky translated one of zola 's novels `` the belly of paris '' whose theme is the food markets of paris .
his 2009 book `` the food of a younger land '' , details american foodways in the early 20th century , with the lengthy subtitle , `` a portrait of american food -- before the national highway system , before chain restaurants , and before frozen food , when the nation 's food was seasonal , regional , and traditional -- from the lost wpa files . ''
