Mark Bowden
Photo courtesy of Viking Penguin

Mark Bowden was born in 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned his B.A. from Loyola College in 1973 and began writing for the Baltimore News American. From 1979 until 2003 he held a post at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bowden is the author of several books of nonfiction, including Doctor Dealer (1987); Bringing the Heat (1994); and Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw, which won the Overseas Press Club’s Cornelius Ryan Award in 2002. His critically acclaimed book Black Hawk Down (1999) tells the story of two downed army helicopters and a daring rescue mission by U.S. Special Forces. Publishers Weekly praised the book as "a gripping account of combat that merits thoughtful reading by anyone concerned with the future course of the country's military strategy and its relationship to foreign policy." Black Hawk Down earned Bowden the Overseas Press Club’s Hal Boyle Award and was made into a blockbuster film. His 1987 article “Finder’s Keeper’s” was made into the movie Money for Nothing starring John Cusack. Bowden has also written for the New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He serves as a national correspondent of The Atlantic. A collection of his magazine articles entitled Road Work will be published in the fall of 2004.

Their muzzle flashes gave their positions away clearly. Stebbins squeezed off rounds carefully, trying to conserve ammo. Heard was shooting now with an M-16. Nearly deaf, he tapped Stebbins on the shoulder and shouted, "Steb, I just want you to know in case we don’t get out of this, I think you’re doing a great job." Then the ground around them shook.

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