Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Ready for a Brand New Beat: How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America; The Food of a Younger Land; Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World; Salt: A World History; 1968: The Year That Rocked the World; and The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, among other books. He lives in New York City.