Mark Haskell Smith

Mark Haskell Smith (born June 14, 1957) is an American writer who lives in Los Angeles. He is best known for his books, the non-fiction Naked at Lunch: A Reluctant Nudist's Adventures in the Clothing-Optional World, published by Grove Press and Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers and the Race for the Cannabis Cup, published by Broadway Books, as well as five novels: Moist, Delicious, Salty, Baked, and Raw: A Love Story published by Grove Atlantic/Black Cat.

He has also written screenplays for the Brazilian film A Partilha and Playing God as well as television shows The Magnificent Seven,Star Trek: Voyager, and Martial Law. He adapted his third novel, Salty, into a feature film directed by Simon West and starring Antonio Banderas. Salty is scheduled for release in 2017.

Mark Haskell Smith was born in Lawrence, Kansas and raised in a suburb of Kansas City. Smith attended and received a B.A. from The Evergreen State College in 1979 and an MFA from the American Film Institute Conservatory in 1987. After his undergraduate work, Smith moved to Seattle, WA living in the Belltown neighborhood. He played guitar and "sang" in the art-punk band The Beakers (1979–80) and 3 Swimmers (1981–83).

Smith moved to Los Angeles in 1984 to attend the American Film Institute's Conservatory. He lived briefly in New York City (1987–89), attending classes at Playwright's Horizons theater lab.

Smith began working as a playwright in the 1990s and his first play The Cost of Doing Business was workshopped at Playwright's Horizons and Manhattan Theatre Club before premiering at The Met Theatre in Los Angeles in 1992. The play was met with mixed reviews. The Los Angeles Times said, "the kind of superficial, self-congratulatory puff that gives stage liberalism a bad name." However, Hollywood executives took notice and the play led to a career in screenwriting.

...
Wikipedia