my $sql_stmnt = "SELECT rec_id, name FROM writers";
my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:db:localhost","user","passwd")
   || die "Could not connect to database: " . DBI->errstr;
my $sth = $dbh->prepare($sql_stmnt);
$sth->execute();
my $results = $sth->fetchall_arrayref();
my %results;
foreach my $row(@$results) {
   my ($key,$value) = @$row;
   $results{$key} = "$value";  
}
$sth->finish();
$dbh->disconnect();