John Burgess

He began his career in journalism in Thailand in 1971 as a sub-editor at The Bangkok World, an English-language newspaper. Later he wrote as a freelancer from Thailand, Laos and Vietnam for a collection of foreign news organizations. He joined the staff of The Washington Post in 1980 and had a 28-year career at the newspaper as a writer and editor, covering a diverse collection of issues--Asia, Europe, the computer industry and international economics. He was the newspaper's Japan and Korea correspondent from 1984 to 1987, living in Tokyo. He took an early retirement from the newspaper in 2008 and has since focused on this book and other independent writing.