joe sharkey is an american author and former columnist for "the new york times." his columns focused mostly on business travel, while his non-fiction books focus on criminality. sharkey also co-authored a novel. he has been the assistant national editor for "the wall street journal", the city editor for the "albany times-union", and a columnist for "the philadelphia inquirer". formally residing in the new york area, he and his wife live in tucson, arizona.