Kirk W. Johnson is the author of The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century and To Be a Friend Is Fatal: The Fight to Save the Iraqis America Left Behind. The Feather Thief is Johnson’s investigation into the theft of hundreds of rare birds from the British Natural History Museum at Tring, exposing a fascinating subculture that links bird trafficking and the world of fly-tying enthusiasts. It is a colorful true tale, mixing natural history, crime and the marketplace. He is also the founder of The List Project, a nonprofit that assists Iraqi refugees who worked for U.S-affiliated organizations during the war in Iraq to resettle in the U.S. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among others.

Johnson is the recipient of fellowships from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the American Academy in Berlin, and the USC Annenberg Center. Prior to the List Project, Johnson served in Iraq with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Baghdad and then Fallujah as the Agency’s first coordinator for reconstruction in the war-torn city. Born in West Chicago, Johnson received his BA from the University of Chicago. He lives with his wife and son in Los Angeles.

Part of The Center’s BIG IDEA project Marketplaces: From Open Air to Online.

This lecture has been generously sponsored by anonymous gift.