MICHAEL ALLIN is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and poet. He is the author of "Zarafa:A Giraffe's True Story, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris," which has been published in 19 languages. Allin's first published work was poetry, written while in college studying with his life-long friend and mentor James Dickey. After graduating as an English major with minors in Art History and Romance Languages, Allin began his cinematic career writing documentaries. He has since worn out five passports writing movies and researching books in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. An indefatigable traveler, Allin retraced the journey of France's first giraffe from Khartoum to Paris and has crossed China by land. His novel, "The Christmas Kid," which is based on his experiences hitchhiking across the United States, was adapted by him and 11 subsequent screenwriters into Disney's movie "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Allin's other screenwriting credits include "Enter the Dragon." Allin also wrote the the original 11 drafts of the screenplay for Dino de Laurentiis's "Flash Gordon." Allin also wrote the screen adaptation of his play "Hotel Paradise," which was directed by Nicolas Roeg. The next Allin-Roeg collaboration will be "Night Train,"based on the novel by Martin Amis.