Moses, Sam 1947-

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Moses, Sam 1947-

PERSONAL:

Born 1947; children: Tai, Makani Kai. Education: Attended the University of Miami, Pennsylvania State University, and San Diego State University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—White Salmon, WA.

CAREER:

Journalist and nonfiction writer. Portland Tribune, Portland, OR, columnist. Former staff writer for MotorCycle Weekly and Sports Illustrated. Former editor of AutoWeek. Military service: U.S. Navy, served on the USS St. Paul during the Vietnam War.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Ken Purdy Award, International Motor Press Association, for excellence in automotive journalism.

WRITINGS:

Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots: A Racing Odyssey on the Border of Obsession, September Press, 2006.

At All Costs: How a Crippled Ship and Two American Merchant Marines Reversed the Tide of World War II, Random House (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Sam Moses's writing career began in the most unlikely of locations: on the USS St. Paul, while he was stationed in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy. Following a short-lived college career after the war, Moses took a writing job with MotorCycle Weekly penning a column about motorcycle racing. By the mid-1970s, he was contributing regularly to Sports Illustrated and was eventually brought on as a staff writer. Moses's first book, Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots: A Racing Odyssey on the Border of Obsession, was born out of an assignment in which he was asked to attend race-driving school. In a similar fashion, Moses wrote an unpublished manuscript about an expedition he joined that traveled the River of Doubt in the Brazilian Amazon.

Moses's post with Sports Illustrated also led to the publication of his second book. An old colleague asked him to write a story about Operation Pedestal, a World War II convoy battle that may have shifted the outcome of the war. The result was 2006's At All Costs: How a Crippled Ship and Two American Merchant Marines Reversed the Tide of World War II. Roland Green remarked in an article for Booklist that the book is "a solid addition to WWII naval literature by anyone's lights." A contributor to Kirkus Reviews described At All Costs as "a riveting tale of true American grit during World War II" that "takes readers directly into the heat of battle, demonstrating a strong command of historical detail." A reviewer writing on the United States Merchant Marines Web site wrote that the book's success lay in the balance of "romance, adventure, and handsome American heroes, in a brilliantly told story of a critical battle of World War II."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Roland Green, review of At All Costs: How a Crippled Ship and Two American Merchant Marines Reversed the Tide of World War II, p. 21.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2006, review of At All Costs, p. 827.