joel shurkin is a freelance writer in baltimore. a former science writer at the philadelphia inquirer. he was part of a team that won a pulitzer prize for covering three mile island in 1979. that same year he also won the national association of science teachers best children's science book. award for his book jupiter, the star that failed. he has 10 published books and he taught journalism at stanford university. the university of california at santa cruz and the university of alaska fairbanks. we are also privileged to have donald mcneil with us. he has written the book "zika: the emerging epidemic".donald mcneil is assassin have reported for "the new york times". specializing in plagues and pestilences. [laughter] he covers diseases of the world including aids, ebola, malaria, swine and bird flu, mad cow disease and sars. he joined the times and 1976 is a copy boy and has been an environmental reporter, theater columnist and editor. that is like another hour for this session. he has won awards for stories about cities that have s

and joel shurkin on "true genius: the life and work of richard garwin, the most influential scientist you've never heard of" . this is just under one hour. good afternoon. welcome to the ninth annual tucson festival of books. my name is matt russell. i'm the ceo of russell public communications and it will be a privilege for me to moderate the session this afternoon. i would like to thank cox communications for sponsoring the venue. mr. mcneil is sponsored by research corporation for science advancements.