Michael Scott Moore (born 1969) is an American journalist and novelist. He is the author of ''Sweetness and Blood'' (2010), about the history of surfing, and ''The Desert and the Sea'' (2018), a memoir about his captivity in Somalia. Moore graduated from

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

in 1991 with a degree in

German Literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...

. He lives in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and also holds German citizenship. In January 2012, he was abducted in Galkayo, Somalia while researching a book about

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

. Moore was held captive for over two and a half years, and released September 22, 2014. He is a member of the Board of Directors o
Hostage US
a non-profit that supports American hostages and their families.

Abduction

Moore traveled to Somalia on a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting to research a book on piracy. He was abducted by a local gang of pirates in January 2012 in the town of Galkayo. Several days later, two aid workers, Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, also being held by Somali pirates, were rescued by a

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

operation. The gang holding Moore subsequently demanded $20 million. American officials and the German Foreign Ministry collaborated on negotiations with the pirates, until Moore was freed September 22, 2014. It took 977 days for Moore to be released by the pirates after 1.6 million dollars was paid. In 2024, two of the pirates involved in Moore's abduction were each sentenced to 30 years in American prisons.

Career

Moore has published three books, including the novel ''Too Much of Nothing'', published by Carroll & Graf, and the nonfiction history of surfing ''Sweetness and Blood: How Surfing Spread from Hawaii and California to the Rest of the World, with Some Unexpected Results'', published by Rodale in 2010. ''Sweetness and Blood'' was named a Best Book of 2010 by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' and

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

. ''The Desert and the Sea'' became a Nielsen besteller in August 2018, shortly after its publication on July 24, 2018. Moore worked as the theater columnist for SF Weekly, until he moved to Berlin, Germany in 2005. In Germany he worked as both a staff and a freelance editor for Spiegel Online International. In 2010-11 he covered a trial of ten Somali pirates in Hamburg who were charged with trying to hijack the MV Taipan. His journalism has been published in

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

, and the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

. From 2009 to 2012, he also wrote a weekly column for Miller-McCune (now Pacific Standard) on trans-Atlantic issues, including the NATO effort against Somali pirates. In 2009, for the column, he sailed on the Turkish frigate Gediz which had been charged with catching pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

Works

* ''Too Much of Nothing'' New York : Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. , * ''Sweetness and Blood: How Surfing Spread from Hawaii and California to the Rest of the World, with Some Unexpected Results.'' New York, NY : Rodale, 2010. , * ''The Desert and the Sea : 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast'', New York, NY : Harper Wave, 2018. ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Michael Scott University of California, San Diego alumni Journalists from Los Angeles American expatriates in Germany American people taken hostage 1969 births Living people