Wikipedia

Michael Scott Moore

Michael Scott Moore (born 1969) is an American journalist and novelist. He is the author of Sweetness and Blood (2010), a nonfiction book about the global history of surfing, and The Desert and the Sea (2018), a memoir about his captivity in Somalia. His work has appeared in publications such as The Atlantic[1], The New Republic[2], and the Los Angeles Times[3], and he has served as a writer for SF Weekly[4] and as an editor for Spiegel Online International.[5]

Michael Scott Moore
Michael Scott Moore reads at Politics & Prose bookstore, July 28, 2018
Moore reads at Politics & Prose bookstore, July 28, 2018
Born1969 (age 56–57)
Los Angeles, California
OccupationAuthor, journalist
LanguageEnglish, German
CitizenshipUS, Germany
Alma materUniversity of California, San Diego
Genrenon-fiction, fiction
Website
radiofreemike.net/home

Moore graduated from University of California, San Diego in 1991 with a degree in German Literature. He lives in Berlin and also holds German citizenship. In January 2012, he was abducted in Galkayo, Somalia while researching a book about modern piracy.[6] Moore was held captive for over two and a half years, and released September 22, 2014.[7] He is a member of the Board of Directors of Hostage US, a non-profit that supports American hostages and their families.

Abduction

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Moore (right) with fellow hostage Rolly Tambara at a reunion in Seychelles in 2018

Background

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Moore traveled to Somalia on a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting to research a book on piracy. He arrived in the town of Galkayo in January 2012 as part of this reporting assignment.

Kidnapping

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While in Galkayo, Moore was abducted by a local gang of pirates. Several days later, two aid workers, Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, also being held by Somali pirates, were rescued by a Navy SEAL operation. The pirates holding Moore subsequently demanded $20 million.[8]

Captivity and negotiations

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Officials from the United States and the German Foreign Ministry collaborated on negotiations with the pirates. He was held for more than two and a half years (977 days) before being freed on September 22, 2014. A ransom of $1.6 million was paid for his release.[9]

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In 2024, two of the pirates involved in Moore's abduction were each sentenced to 30 years in American prisons.[10]

Career

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Moore has published three books, including the novel Too Much of Nothing,[11] 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.[12] Sweetness and Blood was named a Best Book of 2010 by The Economist[13] and PopMatters.[14] The Desert and the Sea received positive critical attention and appeared on Apple Books category bestseller lists in August 2018.[15]

Moore worked as the theater columnist for SF Weekly,[16] 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.[17]

His journalism has been published in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, and the Los Angeles Times. 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.[18] In 2009, for the column, he sailed on the Turkish frigate Gediz which had been charged with catching pirates in the Gulf of Aden.[19]

Works

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References

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  1. ↑ Moore, Michael Scott (2009). "What Are Those Warships Doing Off Somalia?". Pacific Standard (formerly Miller-McCune); republished via The Atlantic archive. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  2. ↑ Moore, Michael Scott (January 18, 2011). "Somalia's Pirates Are Back—And They're Furious". The New Republic. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Moore, Michael Scott (September 24, 2009). "German Election: Why America Should Care". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ Sherbert, Erin (January 27, 2012). "Michael Scott Moore, Former SF Weekly Writer, Kidnapped by Somali Pirates". SF Weekly. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ "A Precedent or a Farce? Court Faces Daunting Hurdles in Hamburg Pirate Trial". Der Spiegel. January 18, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  6. ↑ Strange, Hannah (September 23, 2014). "Journalist Michael Scott Moore Released After Nearly Three Years as a Hostage". Vice.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ "American-German Journalist Michael Scott Moore Released in Somalia". Der Spiegel. September 23, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ "A War Journalist's Worst Case Scenario: The Kidnapping of Michael Scott Moore". Medium.com. November 25, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  9. ↑ "American-German Journalist Michael Scott Moore Released in Somalia". Der Spiegel. September 23, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  10. ↑ Breen, Kerry (November 13, 2024). "2 Somali pirates get 30 years in kidnapping of U.S. journalist held hostage for 977 days". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Fiction Book Review: Too Much of Nothing by Michael Scott Moore". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  12. ↑ Martin, Andy (June 17, 2010). "Book Review: Sweetness and Blood by Michael Scott Moore". The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Page Turners". The Economist. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ Popmatters Staff. "The Best Non-Fiction of 2010". www.popmatters.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Apple iBooks Category Bestsellers, August 5, 2018". Publishers Weekly. August 10, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  16. ↑ Sherbert, Erin. "Michael Scott Moore, Former SF Weekly Writer, Kidnapped by Somali Pirates". SFWeekly.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  17. ↑ "A Precedent or a Farce? Court Faces Daunting Hurdles in Hamburg Pirate Trial". Der Spiegel. January 18, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  18. ↑ Moore, Michael Scott. "What Are Those Warships Doing Off Somalia?". psmag.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  19. ↑ Moore, Michael Scott. "How Do You Prosecute a Pirate?". psmag.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
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