Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. He has published eleven national bestsellers, including Strip Tease, Stormy Weather, Lucky You, Sick Puppy, Basket Case, Skinny Dip, Nature Girl, Star Island, Bad Monkey, Razor Girl, and Squeeze Me. Hiaasen has also written a number of nonfiction books and several popular novels for young readers including Hoot, which won a Newbery Honor and was made into a feature film starring Brie Larson, Luke Wilson and Logan Lerman. Other film adaptations of his books include the major motion picture Strip Tease, starring Demi More and directed by Andrew Bergman, and the current Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey, starring Vince Vaughn and developed by Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence.

Together, Hiaasen’s books have been published in 34 languages. His nonfiction work has appeared in many magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Time, and Esquire. From 1985 to 2021 Hiaasen wrote a regular column for The Miami Herald, covering everything from local issues like polluted rivers, the criminal justice system, and animal welfare, to national stories like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Trayvon Martin case, Bernie Madoff’s trial, and Florida’s presidential election woes. He has received numerous honors for his incisive journalism and commentary, including three Pulitzer Prize nominations, the Damon Runyon Award from the Denver Press Club and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Photo credit: © Elena Seibert