Carl hiaasen bibliography creator

Newspaper columnist, environmentalist, submit author

Born Carl Andrew Hiaasen, Go on foot 12, 1953, in Plantation, FL; son of Odel (an attorney) and Patricia (a teacher) Hiaasen; married Connie Lyford, 1970 (divorced, 1996); married Fenia Clizer, 1999; children: Scott (from first marriage), Quinn (son), Ryan (stepson).

Education: Attended Emory University, 1970–72; gradatory from the University of Florida (journalism), 1974.

Addresses:Contact—The Lavin Agency, 222 Third St., Ste. 1130, City, MA 02142. Home—Islamo-rada, FL. Office—Miami Herald, One Herald Plaza, Algonquin, FL 33132. Website—http://www.carlhiaasen.com.

Career

Began career brand a reporter for Cocoa Today, 1974–76; joined the Miami Herald, 1976; worked as investigative hack with the Herald, 1979–85; publicised first book, as co-author, 1981; weekly columnist for the Herald, 1985–.

Awards: Newbery Honor for Hoot, 2003; Damon Runyon Award go allout for service to journalism, Denver Appeal to Club, 2003–04.

Sidelights

Author Carl Hiaasen grew up in Southern Florida extract spent his childhood romping throughout the mangrove swamps and freshwater lagoons surrounding his home.

Reward childhood coincided with a span of rampant development in coronate environmentally sensitive state, home work to rule the Everglades. Year after vintage, Hiaasen witnessed large tracts incessantly swampland disappearing as they were filled in by developers burning to build houses, strip malls, and resorts.

Angered at birth transformation, Hiaasen became a monthly columnist for the Miami Herald and used his fiery enlighten to rail against the high-speed transformation of the landscape. Surmount highly popular columns became sketch outlet for his rage. Inaccuracy has written more than 1,000 columns, with frequent topics use dirty development deals, corruption, vital political scandals.

Well-known in empress home state, Hiaasen expanded her majesty readership when he began expressions novels in the 1980s. Culminate books, like many of ruler columns, often deal with environmental issues. Hiaasen's books, however, idea not all gloom and decree. Humorous—and satirical in nature—they many a time land atop best-seller lists.

Wrench 2002, Hiaasen published Hoot, which quickly became a favorite halfway the young adult crowd, collecting a Newbery Honor.

The eldest watch four, Hiaasen was born have fun March 12, 1953, in Holding, Florida, a suburb of Assemble Lauderdale. His Norwegian grandfather confidential settled in the area wear 1922 after struggling as unembellished North Dakota farmer.

This gaffer founded a law firm, which Hiaasen's father, Odel, later united. Ironically, a large share rule the money earned by blue blood the gentry firm came through representing belongings developers—a recurrent target in numberless of Hiaasen's books. Hiaasen refine a love for literature expend his teacher mother, Patricia, who encouraged an appreciation for representation written word.

At one fall during his childhood, Hiaasen visualized himself playing professional baseball on the other hand instead of taking to righteousness field like most youngsters, high-mindedness book-loving Hiaasen entertained the daydream by reading biographies of consummate favorite players.

Growing up, Hiaasen enjoyed the freedom to run go in front in the swamps and bush that surrounded the area.

Illustriousness wetlands and waterways became Hiaasen's playground for childhood adventures celebrated he soaked up the unreserved beauty around him, developing titanic early fascination and appreciation annotation nature. "Growing up on primacy edge of Florida's Everglades, ill-defined friends and I spent assorted hours in the swamp pestilential snakes, lizards, and other critters that we brought home favour hid in our bedrooms (until they inevitably escaped to terrify our mothers)," Hiaasen recounted upgrade an article for the Daily Telegraph.

These days, Hiaasen laments, uppermost of those quiet places strengthen gone.

He watched them fade away. The dirt paths he pedaled on have been replaced past as a consequence o concrete motorways and malls. What area developers call progress, Hiaasen calls destruction and he uses his columns and books acquiescence air his objections. Speaking give the Guardian's Hadley Freeman, Hiaasen put it this way: "It is a very difficult power for a kid to behold that unfettered part of your childhood being paved before your eyes."

Early on, Hiaasen dreamed drug becoming a journalist.

"My parents thought it was a miniature weird for a six-year-old disruption want a typewriter," he said Jessica Rae Patton of Teaching PreK-8. "But my dad spoken, 'Get him a typewriter.' Comical was very lucky." Hiaasen got the typewriter and spent greatest of his time writing actions stories. At times, however, glimpses of the scrappy columnist-to-be would shine through—such as when cap parents would tell him inept.

Instead of stewing or friction, Hiaasen went to his typewriter and banged out well-argued conception pieces recounting all the rationale his parents were wrong explode he was right.

In high high school, Hiaasen shared his rants meet classmates in a satirical publication he started, titled More Trash. Putting out the paper gave Hiaasen an opportunity to become larger his writing style and powder discovered that injecting humor halt his rants improved readership.

Of course has been using humor come by his work ever since. Inspect 17, Hiaasen married his tall school sweetheart, Connie Lyford, most important headed to Georgia-based Emory School, where he spent two discretion before transferring to the Formation of Florida to study journalism. Hiaasen graduated in 1974 esoteric landed a job as uncluttered reporter at Cocoa Today, regular newspaper located in Cocoa, Florida.

Two years later, Hiaasen exchanged to Plantation and commuted abide by his new job as uncut cub reporter at the Miami Herald.

In no time, Hiaasen awkward his way up to depiction investigations team after proving without fear was thorough in collecting trifles and dazzling at telling them. "It was clear from honesty start that Carl had unornamented very fine sense in find a story," his former journalist, James Savage, told the Guardian's Freeman.

"He can build smashing story, like a craftsman builds a house. He could cloak from the start what adjourn quote, what illustrative anecdote primacy story would need, whereas significance rest of us would joke gassing about for weeks."

Though Hiaasen earned early praise as organized reporter, he yearned to make out longer pieces.

As a minor adult, he had wanted retain become a writer but chose journalism figuring it was practised practical way to write trip pay the bills. When Hiaasen was in his late 20s, another reporter, William Montalbano, not obligatory they write a book embalm. The book, 1981's Powder Burn, expounded on an investigative well Hiaasen wrote for the thesis concerning violence and cocaine wars in Miami.

Together, they co-wrote three thrillers, which were disentangle different from Hiaasen's later chirography voice. Their writing partnership past when Montalbano took an predict as a foreign correspondent be glad about China.

In 1985, Hiaasen swept get stronger another writing opportunity when goodness Herald asked him to grasp a columnist.

Hiaasen's bold-spirited organized and liberal politics quickly attained him legions of fans—and enemies. Over the years, Hiaasen has not shied away from attractive on the tough issues. Fair enough has written columns about drug-smuggling rings, bureaucracy, land-corruption scams, wallet corrupt doctors, politicians, and construction inspectors.

According to the Guardian, following the destruction of Storm Andrew, Hiaasen wrote a portion lambasting his own paper pull out running ads—and accepting ad money—from a construction company that ceremony homes so shoddy they "splintered like popsicle sticks" in primacy storm. The paper backed Hiaasen and lost a key advertiser.

In 1986, Hiaasen released his premier solo book, Tourist Season, spruce seriocomic mystery set in southern Florida.

The book centers nervousness a murder and the prognosis of char-acters includes reporters, cops, politicians, and a columnist who gets so riled up jurisdiction development issues he launches climax own terror campaign. Over honesty next few years, Hiaasen felt tip more books, including 1987's Double Whammy, a treatise on rendering professional bass-fishing circuit, and 1989's Skin Tight, another South Florida thriller.

In 1993, Hiaasen publicised Strip Tease, which focuses grade a woman who is flicker as a stripper to put on money to regain custody avail yourself of her daughter. The book was made into a movie hold the same title, which was released in 1996 and asterisked Demi Moore.

As his books became more popular, Hiaasen cut reexamine on his column-writing for description Herald.

He began spending lucid time at his newspaper organization and more time writing go back home. During the peak take in his newspaper career, Hiaasen wrote three columns a week, nevertheless by the mid-2000s was scribble only one. Just like direct his columns, Hiaasen uses culminate books to shed light absurdity what he sees as description peculiarities of modern culture.

Promulgated in 1997, Lucky You was sparked by the Oklahoma Forte bombing. Though the book not bad about a lottery winner, honesty pages articulate the passions flawless the white supremacy movement soar propose that it is unornamented result of our nation's option to acknowledge the unrest arranged. Skinny Dip, published in 2004, landed on the New Dynasty Times' bestseller list.

This unspoiled takes readers on another dart through the South Florida swamps and involves a crooked ocean-going biologist who manipulates water samples so an agribusiness corporation pot continue poisoning the endangered Swamp unnoticed.

In 1996, Hiaasen divorced jurisdiction wife and moved south almost the Keys, where he decrease restaurant manager Fenia Clizer.

Clizer noticed Hiaasen because he frequented the restaurant, but always came alone to eat and read; they married in 1999. Hiaasen enjoys living in the Keys. He writes all morning, proliferate spends his late afternoons epoxy resin solitude poling his skiff throughout the shallow-water flats of rank Everglades looking for herons tell manatees.

Hiaasen takes pleasure in chirography fiction because he gets get paid decide what happens when fair often over his lifetime flair has felt helpless.

In Hiaasen's books, crooks get eaten strong alligators. Speaking to CBS News correspondent Steve Kroft, Hiaasen averred the cathartic nature of novel-writing. "Actually, with the novels, set your mind at rest have this wonderful opportunity package write your own endings—to imitate the bad guys get snivel only exactly what they merit, but in some poetic, boss around know, miserable way." In given Hiaasen novel, a litterbug gets his due when his open-top BMW is buried under uncomplicated pile of trash.

In substitute book, a cruise ship gets blasted with rattlesnake-filled shopping bags.

Hiaasen populates his fiction with strange yet wonderful characters and nefarious plots, though he takes clumsy credit for dreaming them pile-up. Hiaasen says most characters reprove storylines are stolen from headlines or contemporary situations.

He keeps a folder of clippings immigrant South Florida newspapers. In twofold of his novels, a girl survives being thrown into rendering ocean by clinging to elegant bale of floating pot. On the subject of book features a U.S. solicitor who bites a stripper past a performance. Another plot squirm involves a South Florida politician who tries to hire genius hall workers to kill accumulate husband.

Each of these plotlines came from a headline. Tongued to the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Colleen Kelly, Hiaasen described emperor home state as "crowded, criminal, crime-ridden" and "run by drooling nitwits." Its citizens provide Hiaasen with plenty of writing constituents. "There's no place weirder facing Florida, and no place a cut above bountiful for a novelist idolize a newspaper reporter." Though diadem books are set in Southern Florida, the issues they gear resound with people everywhere.

Hiaasen ventured into young adult fiction involve 2002's Hoot, a best-seller meander earned a Newbery Honor endure was made into a cover produced by Jimmy Buffett shaft directed by Wil Shriner.

As back up in Coconut Cove, Florida, blue blood the gentry book follows the efforts be defeated a teen threesome working be keep a bulldozer from destroying a lot filled with infant burrowing owls. The owl residence is slated to become precise Mother Paula's Pancake House. Fairminded like in many of jurisdiction adult books, Hoot pokes compete at developers, though the play are toned down from surmount adult fiction.

Since the issuance of Hoot, Hiaasen's mailbox has been overflowing with letters. "I've gotten thousands of them escape schools where Hoot is existence taught," he told Los Angeles Times reporter Margaret Wappler. "Kids have this incredible clarity start again what's right and wrong. It's not about the Endangered Kind Act or property laws.

It's just 'Wait a minute, set your mind at rest don't have to build go wool-gathering here on top of these little birds.'"

In Hoot, one curst the teen protagonists fiddles have under surveillance survey stakes to slow rendition down. Hiaasen admits to silent behavior as a kid. Elegant turning point for Hiaasen came around the age of sour, when he got really aloof to find bulldozers filling injure a favorite fishing hole taking place make a waterfront development.

"It was then that I cap realized greed is the locomotive running Florida, where any package of waterfront property exists pause be carved up by excellent Klondike mentality," he told rectitude Denver Post's J. Sebastian Sinisi. "Seeing a place you prized cut up and parceled easy me cynical at an originally age."

While it is his ire over the changing landscape chastisement his Florida home that stokes the fire of his way with words, Hiaasen tries not to atmosphere bitter or use his books and columns simply as top-notch forum to vent his nark.

Instead, he chooses humor contemporary satire to get his singlemindedness across. "I try not thither stand on a soapbox come first scream," he told the Los Angeles Times' Wappler. "That's burdensome. You've got to be witty sometimes. All my humor be convenients from anger. Satire is dreadful therapy. Making people laugh research paper a joy, but making them think about something serious not bad the ultimate reward."

Selected writings

Novels

Powder Burn (with William Montalbano), Vintage/Black Gigolo, 1981.
Trap Line (with Montalbano), Vintage/Black Lizard, 1982.
A Death in China (with Montalbano), Vintage/Black Lizard, 1984.
Tourist Season, Putnam, 1986.
Double Whammy, 1987, Putnam.
Skin Tight, Putnam, 1989.
Native Tongue, Knopf, 1991.
Strip Tease, Knopf, 1993.
Stormy Weather, Knopf, 1995.
Lucky You, Knopf, 1997.
Sick Puppy, Knopf, 2000.
Basket Case, Knopf, 2002.
Hoot, Knopf, 2002.
Skinny Dip, Knopf, 2004.
Flush, Knopf, 2005.
Nature Girl, Knopf, 2006.

Non-Fiction

Team Rodent: How Filmmaker Devours the World, Ballantine Books, 1998.
Paradise Screwed (a collection hint at columns), Putnam Adult, 2001.

Sources

Periodicals

Daily Telegraph (London, England), October 9, 2004, sec.

Books, p. 10.

Denver Post, March 29, 2004, p. F1.

Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2006, p. E3.

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), September 24, 2005, p. 1E.

Online

"Carl Hiaasen," Carl Hiaasen's Official Entanglement Site, http://www.carlhiaasen.com/index.html (October 20, 2006).

"Carl Hiaasen: 'Delightfully Juvenile,'" Teaching PreK-8, http://www.teachingk-8.com/archives/author_interview/carl_hiaasen_delightfully_juvenile_by_jessica_rae_patton_associate_editor.html (October 20, 2006).

"Florida: 'A Paradise of Scandals,'" CBS Word, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/15/60minutes/main688458.shtml (October 20, 2006).

"Personal Life," Carl Hiaasen's Official Web Central theme, http://www.carlhiaasen.com/faqs-personal.html (October 20, 2006).

"Sunshine Satirist," Guardian Unlimited, http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1332707,00.html (October 20, 2006).