Still profoundly influenced by the experience of total cultural immersion he had experienced in West Africa, he began to develop a journalistic style that focused on the cultures of the things he was investigating. In 1986, Mark joined the San Diego Tribune as a full-time investigative reporter. He also began to make a name for himself in the tough world of investigative reporting, breaking a series of stories about a financial scandal that almost toppled the nation’s mortgage brokerage business. bureaus of the New York Times, Newsday and the New York Daily News. He left to become a political reporter in Washington D.C., at a small wire service called States News Service where his role was backup reporter to the D.C. He worked at Reuters, Ltd., as a financial correspondent covering the Chicago Commodities Markets from 1983-1984.

Upon Mark’s return to the United States in 1982, he attended the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Mark rode with Tuareg nomads deep into the Sahara, immersed himself in their culture and taught their children English in a regional high school. Two weeks later, he boarded a plane bound for Niger, West Africa, where he worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Agades, an oasis and trading center on the ancient caravan route between Tripoli and Timbuctu. He attended Hamilton College, graduating in 1980 with a BA in English. Mark grew up outside of Boston and says the best job he’s ever had was selling souvenirs at Fenway Park during his high school summers.

Mark t sullivan author