Mark Kurlansky, having refused to serve in the military, worked as a playwright in New York during the early 1970s . In the mid '70s he turned to journalism and was a foreign correspondent for The Miami Herald, The International Herald Tribune, and other papers until 1991. By then he was writing books. He has since written fiction, children's books, food books, and a stream of fascinating non-fiction books, including Cod, The Basque History of the World, Nonviolence, Salt and The Eastern Stars. His latest book,Birdseye, the story of the quintessentially American inventor and innovator Clarence Birdsye, appeared this spring.