I published my first short story in 1972 and have been making most of my living as a writer ever since. I was in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1971 and have also worked as a merchant seaman, charter pilot, commercial fisherman, lecturer, and magazine editor. I have a BA in English from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Fine Arts in fiction from the University of California at Irvine. I will be seventy in July, 2014. I am the author of Death and Oil: A True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea; Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King; Descent: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2006; the New York Times bestseller Titanic's Last Secrets; Planet Ocean: A Story of Life the Sea, and Dancing to the Fossil Record with artist Ray Troll; the Incredible Ocean Adventure series for children, recipient of the National Science Teachers Award for 2004; Go Wild in New York City on urban ecology for children; and many other books. I was a creative producer for The Shape of Life, an eight-hour National Geographic television series on evolutionary biology, and wrote the accompanying book. I have written on marine science and the environment for Mother Jones, Audubon, Natural History, and dozens of other magazines. I have been awarded two fellowships at the MacDowell Colony and a residency at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. It’s been a wonderful life. I now live with my sweetheart, Barbara Manchester, and my standard poodle, Lucky, in Port Townsend, Washington.