Carl Hiaasen (b. 1953) is the New York Timesbestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty adult and young adult novels and nonfiction titles, including the novels Strip Tease(1993) and Skinny Dip(2004), as well as the mystery-thrillers Powder Burn(1981), Trap Line(1982), and A Death in China(1984), which were cowritten with fellow Miami Heraldjournalist Bill Montalbano (1941-1998). Hiaasen is best known for his satirical writing and dark humor, much of which is directed at various social and political issues in his home state of Florida. He is an award-winning columnist for the Miami Herald, and lives in Vero Beach. Bill Montalbano (1940-1998) was a foreign correspondent and prize-winning reporter. Born in New York City, he graduated from Rutgers University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1969. As a Latin American correspondent forthe Miami Herald, Montalbano received an Overseas Press Club award in 1973, the Maria Moors Cabot Prize in 1974, and the Ernie Pyle Award in 1975, among other accolades in later years. He joined the Los Angeles Timesin 1983, and traveled around the world before settling in London in 1995. Montalbano is survived by his second wife and five children.