Gary paulsen author biography essay

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Paulsen, Gary
May 17, 1939 -
Author
www.garypaulsen.com

1994 Ludington Award Award

SOURCE CITATION
"Gary Paulsen." Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, 2nd ed., 8 vols. Gale Group, 2002. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
Photograph provided by Simon & Schuster.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

A prolific writer in several genres, Gary Paulsen is acclaimed as the author of powerful young adult fiction. Usually set in wilderness areas, Paulsen's ung adult books feature teenagers who arrive at self-awareness by way of experiences in nature--often through challenging tests of their own survival instincts. Paulsen often writes from his first-hand knowledge of the outdoors, and from his experiences as a hunter, trapper, and even a dogsledder in the Alaska Iditarod race. His work is widely praised

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Gary Paulsen, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1939, is a famous writer of young adult literature. He has written over 200 books, as well as more than 200 magazine articles and short stores intended for teenagers. His most famous work is Hatchet,the first in a saga all focused around the main character, Brian.

Paulsen spent most of his childhood in Minnesota; however, he also lived in the Philippines for two years (beginning when he was seven) while his father was stationed there in the military. This was Paulsen's first time meeting his father, who had not lived with them because of his military duties. Paulsen has written a few autobiographical works, including Eastern Sunand Winter Moon: An Autobiographical Odysseywhich detail some of his struggles growing up, which primarily involved coping with the absence of his father, as well as his mother's alcoholism and various sexual encounters with other men.

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It’s a shame that you don’t know Gary Paulsen, that his name was never as recognizable as a Beverly Cleary (“Ramona the Pest”) or an Eric Carle (“The Very Hungry Caterpillar”), all of whom wrote books for children and all of whom died last year.

At least, I’m assuming you’ve never heard of Gary Paulsen. It’s a big assumption. His books sold more than 35 million copies, and if you came of age in the past four decades and had a thing for survival stories, chances are good you read him. Either way, your children will know him, and their children will know him. His best books appear timeless.

Still, now’s a good time to catch up.

January in Chicago, February in Chicago, mud season, ice season, the doldrums of another pandemic winter, the settling depression of a fresh chance at normality already slipping away. A lake so slate and overcast you don’t know where the sky begins. You just want to stay in and read stories ab