Mark Pendergrast is an author living in Vermont. He has written four books in addition to Inside the Outbreaks. The books are Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed Out World; Mirror Mirror: A History of the Human Love Affair With Reflection; Victims of Memory: Sex Abuse Accusationsand Shattered Lives; and For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It. He has a BA in English literature from Harvard and a master's in library science from Simmons College in Boston.