Miles Harvey is an American journalist and author. He is best known for his 2000 book, ''The Island of Lost Maps'', which recounted the story of a Floridian named Gilbert Bland, who stole old and precious maps from libraries across America. Harvey graduated from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 1984 with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in journalism and earned an M.F.A. degree in English from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1991. He worked for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

, '' In These Times'' and ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...

''. While at ''Outside'' he wrote a 1997 story on Gilbert Bland, which was the origin for ''The Island of Lost Maps''. Harvey states that he has had a lifelong fascination with maps, which he partially attributes to his father's similar interest. ''The Island of Lost Maps'' doesn't just tell the story of Bland's crimes, but also relates much cartographic lore and legend and includes material on Harvey's own life and family. He lives in Chicago and received a 2004 fellowship for fiction from the Illinois Arts Council. In 2008, Harvey published his second book, ''Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America''. This is a non-fiction work that chronicles

Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues Jacques le Moyne de Morgues ( 1533–1588) was a French artist and member of Jean Ribault's expedition to the New World. His depictions of Native American life and culture, colonial life, and plants are of extraordinary historical import ...

's adventures with the French expedition to Florida led by

Jean Ribault Jean Ribault (also spelled ''Ribaut'') (1520 – October 12, 1565) was a French naval officer, navigator, and a colonizer of what would become the southeastern United States. He was a major figure in the French attempts to colonize Florida. A H ...

during the sixteenth century.

References

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External links

Miles Harvey websiteList of Miles Harvey stories for ''Outside'', including his original story on Gilbert Bland''The Drought'', short story by Miles Harvey''Why I Married My Wife'', short story by Miles Harvey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Miles Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male journalists American short story writers American non-fiction crime writers Writers from Chicago University of Illinois alumni University of Michigan alumni American male short story writers