BARRY WERTH is an award-winning journalist and the acclaimed author of seven books. His latest book, Prisoner of Lies, chronicles the life and times of Jack Downey, America’s longest held captive of war, who spent 21 years in Chinese prison before returning home – a singular story of courage, fortitude and resilience. His previous book is The Antidote, which draws on unprecedented inside reporting spanning two decades to provide a ground-breaking close-up of the innovative pharmaceutical company Vertex and the ferocious but indispensable world of pharma that it inhabits. Banquet at Delmonico’s was named one of Barnes and Noble’s top ten nonfiction books and one of Amazon’s top ten history books of the year. The Scarlet Professor won the Lambda award for biography and the American Library Association’s Randy Shilts prize for nonfiction. It was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle award and was named a top ten book of the year by The Washington Post.The Billion Dollar Molecule, his earlier book about Vertex, was named one of Fortune’s 75 “Smartest Books We Know” and a Business Week top ten book of the year.  His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and GQ, among other publications.  In addition, he has taught journalism and nonfiction writing at Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and Boston University.  He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.