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Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his incredibly tolerant family and numerous personal demons.

A graduate of the University of Florida, at age 23 he joined The Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the paper's weekly magazine and later its prize-winning investigations team. Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which at one time or another has pissed off just about everybody in South Florida, including his own bosses.

He has outlasted almost all of them, and his column still appears on most Sundays in The Herald's opinion-and-editorial section. It may be viewed online at www.miamiherald.com or in the actual printed edition of the newspaper, which, miraculously, is still being published.

For his journalism and commentary, Hiaasen has received numerous state and national honors, including the Damon Runyon Award from the Denver Press Club. His work has also appeared in many well-known magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Time, Life, Esquire and, most improbably, Gourmet.

In the early 1980s, Hiaasen began writing novels with his good friend and distinguished journalist, the late William D. Montalbano. Together they produced three mystery thrillers -- Powder Burn, Trap Line and Double Whammy -- which borrowed heavily from their own reporting experiences.

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Carl's next novel, Star Island, will be published by Knopf and released in November.

Set in South Miami Beach, it's the story of a minimally talented, out-of-control pop singer, and an obsessed paparazzo pursuing her.

To be notified when Star Island is released, enter your e-mail address below:

Watch Carl Hiaasen profiled on 60 Minutes.

Read David Pogue's rave review of SCAT in The New York Times.

Three middle schoolers take on greedy land developers, corrupt politicians, and clueless cops in this mystery adventure based on Carl Hiaasen’s Newbery Honor-winning book.

www.hootmovie.com

Resources
  Random House
  The Lavin Agency

Miami Herald
Carl Hiaasen’s column appears regularly in The Miami Herald
Recent Columns

New editions of Kick Ass and Paradise Screwed are now available.
Carl wins Lifetime Achievement Award
For his column in the Miami Herald, Carl Hiaasen has been awarded the 2010 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The award, named for the legendary World War II correspondent, will be presented in July at the annual NSNC conference in Bloomington, Indiana.

Conference chair Mike Leonard called Hiaasen "a singular figure in contemporary American journalism and popular culture." Past recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award include Ellen Goodman, Pete Hamill, Art Buchwald and David Broder.
The Downhill Lie in paperback
The paperback edition of The Downhill Lie was released May 5.

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SCAT nominated for Grammy
The audiobook version of SCAT was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award in the Spoken Word Album for Children category. Edward Asner narrated the audiobook.

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Buy Carl's new children's book, SCAT.
Mrs. Starch – fearsome biology teacher – never returned from a field trip to Black Vine Swamp...

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Carl takes on golf
in The Downhill Lie
Ever wonder how to retrieve a sunken golf cart from a snake-infested lake? Or which club in your bag is best suited for combat against a horde of rats? ...

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"Flush" Is Out in Paperback
You know it's going to be a rough summer when you spend Father's Day visiting your dad in the local lockup. Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor...

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"Nature Girl" Is Now Out in Paperback
Q: Where did the idea for NATURE GIRL come from?

“I'd always fantasized about tracking down one of these telemarketing...”

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