How did gary paulsen die

Personal

Born May 17, 1939, in Minneapolis, MN; son of Oscar (an army officer) and Eunice Paulsen; married third wife, Ruth Ellen Wright (an artist), May 5, 1971; children: (first marriage) two; (third marriage) James Wright. Education: Attended Bemidji College, 1957-58, and University of Colorado, 1976. Politics: "As Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn has said, ‘If we limit ourselves to political structures we are not artists.’" Religion: "I believe in spiritual progress."

Addresses

Home—La Luz, NM; Willow, AK. Agent—Jennifer Flannery, 34-34 28th St., No. 5, Long Island City, NY 11106.

Career

Writer, beginning 1960s. Has also worked as a teacher, field engineer, editor, actor, director, farmer, rancher, truck driver, trapper, professional archer, migrant farm worker, singer, and sailor. Participant in Iditarods, 1983, 1985. Military service: U.S. Army, 1959-62; attained rank of sergeant.

Awards, Honors

Society of Midland Authors Book Award, 1985, for Tracker; Parents' Choice Award, Parents' Choice Foundation, 1985, Newbery Honor Book citation, 1986, and Children's Book of the Year Award, Child Study Association of America, 1986, all for Dogsong; Newbery Honor Book citation, 1988, and Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, 1989, both for Hatchet; Parenting magazine Reading Magic Award, Teachers' Choice Award, International Reading Association (IRA), and Best Books of the Year citation, Learning magazine, all 1990, all for The Voyage of the Frog; Newbery Honor Book citation, Judy Lopez Memorial Award, and Parenting Best Book of the Year citation, all 1990, all for The Winter Room; Parents' Choice Award, 1991, for The Boy Who Owned the School; ALAN Award, 1991; Society of Midland Authors Book Award, and Spur Award from Western Writers of America, both 1991, both for Woodsong; Spur Award, 1993, for The Haymeadow; Booklist Books for Youth Top of the List citation, 1993, for Harris and Me; Children's Choice citation, IRA/Children's Book Council, 1994, for both Nightjohn and Dogteam; Children's Literature Award finalist, PEN Center USA West, 1994, for Sisters/Hermanas; Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, 1997; Parents' Choice Award, and Chicago Tribune Young-Adult Book Prize, both 2007, and National Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Council Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies designation, New Mexico Land of Enchantment Book Award, Texas Bluebonnet Award nomination, and ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers designation, all 2008, all for Lawn Boy. Many of Paulsen's books have been selected as American Library Association (ALA) best books for young adults, ALA notable children's books, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) notable books in the language arts, School Library Journal best books of the year, Notable Children's Books in the Social Studies, and New York Library books for the teen age. In addition, several of his books have won or been nominated for state awards, including the Wisconsin Golden Archer Award, North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award, Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Award, Maryland Black-eyed Susan Book Award, and Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award.

Writings

JUVENILE FICTION

Mr. Tucket, illustrated by Noel Sickles, Funk & Wagnalls (New York, NY), 1968.

The C.B. Radio Caper, illustrated by John Asquith, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1977.

The Curse of the Cobra, illustrated by John Asquith, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1977.

Winterkill, Thomas Nelson (Nashville, TN), 1977.

The Foxman, Thomas Nelson (Nashville, TN), 1977.

Tiltawhirl John, Thomas Nelson (Nashville, TN), 1977.

The Golden Stick, illustrated by Jerry Scott, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1977.

The Night the White Deer Died, Thomas Nelson (Nashville, TN), 1978.

(With Ray Peekner) The Green Recruit, Independence Press (Independence, MO), 1978.

The Spitball Gang, Elsevier (New York, NY), 1980.

Popcorn Days and Buttermilk Nights, Lodestar Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Dancing Carl, Bradbury (Scarsdale, NY), 1983, reprinted, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2007.

Tracker, Bradbury (Scarsdale, NY), 1984, reprinted, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2007.

Dogsong, Bradbury (Scarsdale, NY), 1985, reprinted, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2007.

Sentries, Bradbury (Scarsdale, NY), 1986.

The Crossing, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Hatchet, Bradbury (Scarsdale, NY), 1987.

The Island, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1988.

The Voyage of the Frog, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1989.

The Winter Room, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1989.

The Boy Who Owned the School, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Canyons, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1990.

Woodsong, illustrated by wife, R.W. Paulsen, Bradbury (Scarsdale, NY), 1990.

The Cookcamp, Orchard Books (New York, NY), 1991.

The River, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1991.

The Monument, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1991.

The Haymeadow, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1992.

Christmas Sonata, illustrated by Leslie Bowman, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1992.

Nightjohn, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1993.

Sisters/Hermanas, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1993.

Dogteam, illustrated by R.W. Paulsen, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1993.

Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1993, reprinted, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2007.

The Car, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1994.

The Tortilla Factory, paintings by R.W. Paulsen, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1995.

Call Me Francis Tucket, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1995.

The Tent: A Parable in One Sitting, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1995.

The Rifle, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1995.

Brian's Winter, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1996.

Worksong, illustrated by R.W. Paulsen, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1997.

Tucket's Ride, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1997.

The Schernoff Discoveries, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1997.

Sarny: A Life Remembered, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1997.

The Transall Saga, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1998.

Soldier's Heart: A Novel of the Civil War, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1998.

Canoe Days, illustrated by R.W. Paulsen, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1999.

The White Fox Chronicles, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1999.

Brian's Return, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1999.

Alida's Song, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1999.

Tucket's Gold, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1999.

Escape, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2000.

Tucket's Home, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2000.

Brian's Hunt, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Shelf Life: Stories by the Book, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

The Glass Café; or, The Stripper and the State: How My Mother Started a War with the System That Made Us Kind of Rich and a Little Bit Famous, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2003.

The Quilt, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Time Hackers, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2005.

The Legend of Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Valiant Marshal in the West, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2006.

The Amazing Life of Birds: The Twenty-Day Puberty Journal of Duane Homer Leech, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Lawn Boy, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2007.

"CULPEPPER ADVENTURES" SERIES

The Case of the Dirty Bird, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Dunc's Doll, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Culpepper's Cannon, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Dunc Gets Tweaked, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Dunc's Halloween, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Dunc Breaks the Record, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Dunc and the Flaming Ghost, Dell (New York, NY), 1992.

Amos Gets Famous, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Dunc and Amos Hit the Big Top, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Dunc's Dump, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Dunc and the Scam Artist, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Dunc and Amos and the Red Tattoos, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

The Wild Culpepper Cruise, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Dunc's Undercover Christmas, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Dunc and the Haunted House, Dell (New York, NY), 1993.

Cowpokes and Desperadoes, Dell (New York, NY), 1994.

Dunc and the Greased Sticks of Doom, Dell (New York, NY), 1994.

Amos's Killer Concert Caper, Dell (New York, NY), 1994.

Amos Gets Married, Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Amos Goes Bananas, Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Dunc and Amos Go to the Dogs, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

Amos and the Vampire, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

Amos and the Chameleon Caper, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

Super Amos, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

Dunc and Amos on Thin Ice, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

Amos Binder, Secret Agent, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

"GARY PAULSEN WORLD OF ADVENTURE" SERIES

The Legend of Red Horse Cavern, Dell (New York, NY), 1994.

Escape from Fire Mountain (also see below), Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

The Rock Jockeys, Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

The Gorgon Slayer, Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Danger on Midnight River (also see below), Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Hook 'Em Snotty! (also see below), Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Rodomonte's Revenge, Dell (New York, NY), 1995.

Captive!, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

Project: A Perfect New World, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

Skydive!, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

The Treasure of El Patron, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

The Seventh Crystal, Dell (New York, NY), 1996.

The Creature of Black Water Lake, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

The Grizzly, Dell (New York, NY), 1997.

Thunder Valley, Dell (New York, NY), 1998.

Curse of the Ruins, Dell (New York, NY), 1998.

Time Benders, Dell (New York, NY), 1998.

Flight of the Hawk, Dell (New York, NY), 1998.

World of Adventure Trio (includes Escape from Fire Mountain, Hook 'Em, Snotty!, and Danger on Midnight River), Yearling (New York, NY), 2006.

JUVENILE NONFICTION

(With Dan Theis) Martin Luther King: The Man Who Climbed the Mountain, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1976.

The Small Ones, illustrated by K. Goff, photographs by Wilford Miller, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1976.

The Grass-Eaters: Real Animals, illustrated by K. Goff, photographs by Wilford Miller, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1976.

Dribbling, Shooting, and Scoring Sometimes, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1976.

Hitting, Pitching, and Running Maybe, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1976.

Tackling, Running, and Kicking—Now and Again, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1977.

Riding, Roping, and Bulldogging—Almost, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1977.

Careers in an Airport, photographs by R. Nye, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1977.

Running, Jumping, and Throwing—If You Can, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1978, revised with Roger Barrett as Athletics, Macdonald (Milwaukee, WI), 1980.

Forehanding and Backhanding—If You're Lucky, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1978, revised with Roger Barrett as Tennis, Macdonald (Milwaukee, WI), 1980.

(With John Morris) Hiking and Backpacking, illustrated by R.W. Paulsen, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

(With John Morris) Canoeing, Kayaking, and Rafting, illustrated by John Peterson and Jack Storholm, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1979.

Downhill, Hotdogging, and Cross-Country—If the Snow Isn't Sticky, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier and Willis Wood, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1979, revised with Roger Barrett as Skiing, Macdonald (Milwaukee, WI), 1980.

Facing Off, Checking, and Goaltending—Perhaps, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier and Melchior DiGiacomo, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1979, revised with Roger Barrett as Ice Hockey, Macdonald (Milwaukee, WI), 1980.

Going Very Fast in a Circle—If You Don't Run out of Gas, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier and Bob D'Olivo, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1979, revised with Roger Barrett as Motor Racing, Macdonald (Milwaukee, WI), 1980.

Pummeling, Falling, and Getting Up—Sometimes, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier and Joe DiMaggio, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1979.

Track, Enduro, and Motocross—Unless You Fall Over, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1979, revised with Roger Barrett as Motor-cycling, Macdonald (Milwaukee, WI), 1980.

Launching, Floating High, and Landing—If Your Pilot Light Doesn't Go Out, photographs by Heinz Kluetmeier, Raintree Press (Milwaukee, WI), 1979, published as Full of Hot Air: Launching, Floating High, and Landing, photographs by Mary A. Heltshe, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Art Browne, Jr.) TV and Movie Animals, Messner (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1980.

Sailing: From Jibs to Jibing, illustrated by R.W. Paulsen, Messner (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1981.

Father Water, Mother Woods: Essays on Fishing and Hunting in the North Woods, illustrated by R.W. Paulsen, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1994.

My Life in Dog's Years, drawings by R.W. Paulsen, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1998.

The Beet Fields: Memories of a Sixteenth Summer, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2000.

Guts: The True Story behind Hatchet and the Brian Books, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2001.

Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats, Delacorte (New York, NY), 2001.

How Angel Peterson Got His Name, and Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports, Wendy Lamb Books (New York, NY), 2003.

FICTION; FOR ADULTS

The Implosion Effect, Major Books (Canoga Park, CA), 1976.

The Death Specialists, Major Books (Canoga Park, CA), 1976.

C.B. Jockey, Major Books (Canoga Park, CA), 1977.

The Sweeper, Harlequin (Tarrytown, NY), 1981.

Campkill, Pinnacle Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Clutterkill, Harlequin (Tarrytown, NY), 1982.

Murphy, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1987.

Murphy's Gold, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1988.

The Madonna Stories, Van Vliet (Minneapolis, MN, 1988.

Murphy's Herd, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1989.

(With Brian Burks) Murphy's Stand, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Brian Burks) Murphy's Ambush, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1995.

(With Brian Burks) Murphy's Trail, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1996.

PLAYS

Communications (one-act), produced in New Mexico, 1974.

Together-Apart (one-act), produced in Denver, CO, 1976.

OTHER

(With Raymond Friday Locke) The Special War, Sirkay (Los Angeles, CA), 1966.

Some Birds Don't Fly, Rand McNally (Chicago, IL), 1969.

The Building a New, Buying an Old, Remodeling a Used, Comprehensive Home and Shelter Book, Prentice-Hall (New York, NY), 1976.

Farm: A History and Celebration of the American Farmer, Prentice-Hall (New York, NY), 1977.

Successful Home Repair, Structures (Farmington, MI), 1978.

Money-saving Home Repair Guide, Ideals (State College, PA), 1981.

Beat the System: A Survival Guide, Pinnacle Books (New York, NY), 1983.

Kill Fee, Donald I. Fine (New York, NY), 1990.

Night Rituals, Bantam (New York, NY), 1991.

Clabbered Dirt, Sweet Grass (adult nonfiction), illustrated by R.W. Paulsen, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1992.

Eastern Sun, Winter Moon (adult nonfiction), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1993.

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod (adult nonfiction), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1994.

(Author of introduction) Jack London, The Call of the Wild, illustrated by Barry Moser, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1994.

Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers: Reflections on Being Raised by a Pack of Sled Dogs (adult nonfiction), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1996.

Pilgrimage on a Steel Ride: A Memoir about Men and Motorcycles (adult nonfiction), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1997.

Author of numerous short stories and articles. Paulsen's works have been published in German, Japanese, Danish, Dutch, Russian, Norwegian, Italian, Spanish, French, Swedish, and Chinese.

Adaptations

Dogsong was released as a filmstrip with cassette, Random House/Miller-Brody, 1986; Hatchet was released as a filmstrip with cassette, Random House, 1988; Woodsong was released as an audiocassette, Bantam Audio, 1991; Canyons, Hatchet, and The River were released as audiocassettes, all read by Peter Coyote, Bantam Audio, 1992; The Haymeadow and The Monument were released as audiocassettes, both Bantam Audio, 1992.

Sidelights

A writer of popular and finely wrought young-adult novels and nonfiction, Gary Paulsen joined a select group of YA writers when he received the 1997 Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring an author's lifetime achievement in writing books for teens. His work is widely praised by critics, and he has been awarded Newbery Medal Honor Book citations for three of his books: Dogsong, Hatchet, and The Winter Room. Although Paulsen has also written for adult readers, since the mid-1990s his focus has been primarily on teens. "Adults are locked into car payments and divorces and work," he told New York Times Book Review interviewer Anne Goodwin Sides. "They haven't got time to think fresh. Name the book that made the biggest impression on you. I bet you read it before you hit puberty. In the time I've got left, I intend to write artistic books—for kids—because they're still open to new ideas."

In lean prose that critics have cited for containing echoes of novelist Ernest Hemingway, Paulsen creates powerful young-adult fiction, often setting his stories in wilderness or rural areas and featuring teenagers who arrive at self-awareness by way of experiences in nature—through challenging tests of their own survival instincts—or through the ministrations of understanding adults. He displays an "extraordinary ability to picture for the reader how man's comprehension of life can be transformed with the lessons of nature," wrote Evie Wilson in Voice of Youth Advocates. "With humor and psychological genius, Paulsen develops strong adolescent characters who lend new power to youth's plea to be allowed to apply individual skills in their risk-taking." In addition to writing young adult fiction, Paulsen has also authored numerous picture books with his illustrator wife R.W. Paulsen, penned children's nonfiction, and authored two plays and many works of adult fiction and nonfiction.

Paulsen was born in Minnesota in 1939, the son of first-generation Danish and Swedish parents. During his childhood, he saw little of his father, who served in the military in Europe during World War II, and little of his mother, who worked in a Chicago ammunitions factory. "I was reared by my grandmother and several aunts," he once told SATA. "I first saw my father when I was seven in the Philippines where my parents and I lived from 1946 to 1949." Writing of that experience a half century later in Riverbank Review, Paulsen noted that he "lived essentially as a street child in Manila, because my parents were alcoholics and I was not supervised. The effect was profound and lasting."

When the family returned to the United States, Paulsen suffered from being continually uprooted. "We moved around constantly…. The longest time I spent in one school was for about five months," Paulsen once told SATA. "I was an ‘Army brat,’ and it was a miserable life. School was a nightmare because I was unbelievably shy, and terrible at sports…. I wound up skipping most of the ninth grade." In addition to problems at school, he faced many ordeals at home. "My father drank a lot, and there would be terrible arguments," he noted. Eventually Paulsen was sent again to live with relatives and worked to support himself with jobs as a newspaper boy and as a pin-setter in a bowling alley.

Things began to change for the better during his teen years. He found security and support with his grandmother and aunts—"safety nets" as he described them in his interview. A turning point in his life came one sub-zero winter day when, as he was walking past the public library, he decided to stop in to warm up. "To my absolute astonishment the librarian walked up to me and asked if I wanted a library card," he related. "When she handed me the card, she handed me the world. I can't even describe how liberating it was. She recommended westerns and science fiction but every now and then would slip in a classic. I roared through everything she gave me and in the summer read a book a day. It was as though I had been dying of thirst and the librarian had handed me a five-gallon bucket of water. I drank and drank."

After just barely graduating from high school in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, in 1959, Paulsen attended Bemidji College in Minnesota for two years, paying for his tuition with money he'd earned as a trapper for the state of Minnesota. When he flunked out of college, he joined the U.S. Army, serving from 1959 to 1962, and working with missiles. After his tour of duty was completed, he took extension courses to become a certified field engineer, finding work in the aerospace departments of Bendix and Lockheed corporations. There it occurred to him that he might try and become a writer. "I'd finished reading a magazine article on flight-testing … and thought, gad, what a way to make a living—writing about something you like and getting paid for it!" he told F. Serdahely in Writer's Digest. "I remembered writing some of my past reports, some fictionalized versions I'd included. And I thought: ‘What the hell, I am an engineering writer.’ But, conversely, I also realized I didn't know a thing about writing professionally. After several hours of hard thinking, a way to learn came to me. All I had to do was go to work editing a magazine."

Creating a fictitious resumé, Paulsen was able to obtain an associate editor position on a men's magazine in Hollywood, California. Although it soon became apparent to his employers that he had no editorial experience, he once told SATA that "they could see I was serious about wanting to learn, and they were willing to teach me." He spent nearly a year with the magazine, finding it "the best of all possible ways to learn about writing. It probably did more to improve my craft and ability than any other single event in my life." Still living in California, Paulsen also found work as a film extra (he once played a drunken Indian in a movie called Flap), and took up sculpting as a hobby, even winning first prize in a local exhibition.

Paulsen's first book, The Special War, was published in 1966, and he soon proved himself to be one of the most prolific authors in the United States. In little over a de-

cade, working mainly out of northern Minnesota—where he returned after becoming disillusioned with Hollywood—he published nearly forty books and close to two hundred articles and stories for magazines. Among Paulsen's diverse titles were a number of children's nonfiction books about animals, a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., several humorous titles under the "Sports on the Light Side" series published by Raintree Press, two plays, adult fiction and nonfiction, as well as some initial ventures into juvenile fiction. On a bet with a friend, he once wrote eleven articles and short stories inside four days and sold all of them.

His prolific output was interrupted by a libel lawsuit brought against his 1977 young-adult novel Winterkill, the powerful story of a semi-delinquent boy befriended by a hard-bitten cop named Duda in a small Minnesota town. Paulsen eventually won the case, but, as he noted, "the whole situation was so nasty and ugly that I stopped writing. I wanted nothing more to do with publishing

and burned my bridges, so to speak." Unable to earn any other type of living, he went back to trapping for the state of Minnesota, working his sixty-mile trap line on foot or skis.

To help Paulsen in his hunting job, a friend gave him a team of sled dogs, a gift that ultimately had a profound influence on Paulsen. "One day, about midnight, we were crossing Clear Water Lake, which is about three miles long," Paulsen recounted. "There was a full moon shining so brightly on the snow you could read by it. There was no one around, and all I could hear was the rhythm of the dogs' breathing as they pulled the sled." The intensity of the moment prompted an impulsive seven-day trip by Paulsen through northern Minnesota. "I didn't go home—my wife was frantic—I didn't check lines, I just ran the dogs…. For food, we had a few beaver carcasses…. I was initiated into this incredibly ancient and very beautiful bond, and it was as if everything that had happened to me before ceased to exist." Paulsen afterwards made a resolution to permanently give up hunting and trapping, and proceeded to pursue dogsled racing as a hobby. He entered the grueling twelve-hundred-mile Iditarod race in Alaska in both 1983 and 1985, and this experience provided the basis for his award-winning novel Dogsong.

Paulsen's acclaimed young adult fiction—all written since the 1980s—often centers around teenage characters who arrive at an understanding of themselves and their world through pivotal experiences with nature. His writing has been praised for its almost poetic effect, and he is also credited with creating vivid descriptions of his characters' emotional states. Tracker tells about a thirteen-year-old boy who faces his first season of deer hunting alone while his grandfather is bedridden, dying of cancer. Ronald A. Jobe praised the novel in Language Arts as "powerfully written," adding that Paulsen "explores with the reader the innermost frustrations, hurts, and fears of the young boy. "Tracker was the first book by Paulsen to receive wide critical and popular recognition.

Dogsong, a Newbery Medal honor book, is a rite-of-passage novel about a young Inuit boy named Russel who wishes to abandon the increasingly modern ways of his people. Through the guidance of a tribal elder, Russel learns to bow-hunt and dogsled, and eventually leads his own pack of dogs on a trip across Alaska and back. "While the language of … [Dogsong] is lyrical, Paulsen recognizes the reality of Russel's world—the dirty smoke and the stinking yellow fur of the bear," wrote Nel Ward in the Voice of Youth Advocates. "He also recognizes the reality of killing to save lives, and of dreaming to save sanity, in the communion between present and past, life and death, reality and imagination, in this majestic exploration into the Alaskan wilderness by a master author who knows his subject well."

Paulsen's novel Hatchet, also a Newbery honor book, tells the story of Brian, a thirteen-year-old thoroughly modern boy who is forced to survive alone in the Canadian woods after a plane crash. Like Russel in Dogsong, Hatchet's hero is also transformed by the wilderness. "By the time he is rescued, Brian is permanently changed," noted Suzanne Rahn in Twentieth-Century Children's Writers; "he is far more observant and thoughtful, and knows what is really important in his life." As noted in Children's Books and Their Creators, Hatchet became "one of the most popular adventure stories of all time," combining "elementary language with a riveting plot to produce a book both comprehensible and enjoyable for those children who frequently equate reading with frustration."

Hatchet proved so popular with readers that they demanded, and won, a number of sequels: The River, Brian's Winter, Brian's Return, and Brian's Hunt. In Brian's Hunt, Paulsen "delivers a gripping, gory tale about survival in the north woods, based on a real bear attack," noted Paula Rohrlick in Kliatt.

In My Life in Dog's Years, The Beet Fields: Memories of a Sixteenth Summer, Eastern Sun, Winter Moon,

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Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats, and Guts: The True Stories behind Hatchet and the Brian Books Paulsen recounts stories from his own life, many of which he has fictionalized in his young-adult novels. While most of the remembrances are intended for an adult audience, one of his most powerful memoirs for young readers is Woodsong, an autobiographical account of Paulsen's life in Minnesota and Alaska while preparing his sled dogs to run the Iditarod. A reviewer noted in Horn Book that the "lure of the wilderness is always a potent draw, and Paulsen evokes its mysteries as well as anyone since Jack London." In another memoir intended for a teen readership, How Angel Peterson Got His Name, and Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports, Paulsen recalls a number of daredevil stunts he and his friends performed during their early teen years. "Paulsen laces his tales with appealing '50s details and broad asides about the boys' personalities, ingenuity, and idiocy," noted a reviewer in Publishers Weekly.

Paulsen describes a different kind of growing up in Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered and The Amazing Life of Birds: The Twenty-Day Puberty Journal of Duane Homer Leech, which are set in rural American homes. Raised by abusive and alcoholic parents, the preteen narrator in Harris and Me is sent to live with his uncle's family. In this new environment, the boy finds a degree of normalcy, although his new friend Harris leads him in escapades involving playing Tarzan in the barn's hayloft and using pig pens as the stage for G.I. Joe games. "Through it all," explained a reviewer for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, "the lonely hero imperceptibly learns about belonging." In Voice of Youth Advocates, Penny Blubaugh pointed out that "for the first time in his life [the narrator] finds himself surrounded by love."

A twelve year old is the narrator of The Amazing Life of Birds, and Paulsen's young progagonist shares his uncomfortable experience of adolescence in a humorous journal that "manages to both entertain and reassure" according to Kliatt contributor Paula Rohrlick. Contemplative by nature, Duane finds that his ongoing observations of a bird preparing to leave the nest outside his bedroom window parallel his own growing need for independence. Describing The Amazing Life of Birds as "a quick and enjoyable take on school and family," Booklist contributor Todd Morning maintained that Paulsen captures the interest of reluctant readers by sustaining a "tone [that is] light and amusing."

The narrator of Paulsen's award-winning middle-grade novel Lawn Boy is the same age as Duane, although he has a very different set of problems. In fact, the twelve-year-old narrator of Lawn Boy is overwhelmed by success. When he receives an old riding lawn mower as a birthday gift from his grandmother, the Paulsen's preteen protagonist decides to capitalize on the fact that he lives in a large suburban neighborhood. He begins a lawn-mowing service and quickly finds that his service is in great demand. When a cash-strapped client barters his services as an investment consultant for a regularly maintained lawn, the narrator gets a crash course in capitalism but finds that a growing portfolio can quickly translate into a growing headache. "With all the energy of a bull market and a farce that grows as steadily as crabgrass," Lawn Boy "has summer escapism written all over it," concluded Horn Book contributor Betty Carter.

In books like Nightjohn, Mr. Tucket, and The Legend of Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Valiant Marshal in the West Paulsen draws on history for literary inspiration. Nightjohn is set in the nineteenth-century American South and revolves around Sarny, a young slave girl who risks severe punishment when she is persuaded to learn to read by Nightjohn, a runaway slave who has just been recaptured. A commentator for Kirkus Reviews called Nightjohn "a searing picture of slavery" and an "unbearably vivid book."

Sarny is reprised as a character in Sarny: A Life Remembered, in which the former slave narrates her life in 1930, at the ripe old age of ninety-four. A focal point of the woman's story is the fact that she learned to read: this saves her on more than one occasion. Sarny's "story makes absorbing reading," concluded Bruce Anne Shook in a School Library Journal review.

In Mr. Tucket fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket has a number of hair-raising adventures when he is captured by the Pawnee after wandering away from his family's Oregon-bound wagon train. After Francis escapes from the tribe, a one-armed fur trader named Jason Grimes continues the young teen's frontier education. Tucket's adventures are continued in several more works, including Call Me Francis Tucket, Tucket's Ride, and Tucket's Home.

In a mix of fact and fiction, Paulsen brings to life a fascinating character from America's mythic Wild West in The Legend of Bass Reeves. Born a slave, Reeves learned cowboy skills such as riding and shooting while helping to defend the property of his master, a Texas rancher, from Indian attacks. Although much of Reeves' childhood remains unknown, Paulsen creates an entertaining backstory in his novel, showing Reeves escaping from his unjust master, fleeing to the Oklahoma Territory in the 1840s, and becoming an officer of the law. In fact, Reeve became a legendary Federal Marshal, and was known for never drawing his gun first. The Legend of Bass Reeves was praised by Kliatt critic Janice Flint-Ferguson as "a fascinating story of what it took to survive in the American West," enriched by Paulsen's introductory comments regarding the crafting of the novel from original newspaper accounts. Reeves becomes "a fully fleshed-out character whose story is made all the more satisfying by the truth behind it," concluded Laurie Slagenwhite in her School Library Journal review.

The White Fox Chronicles is a departure for Paulsen in its futuristic setting and a plot that a Publishers Weekly

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reviewer likened to that of a "shoot-'em-up computer game." The novel's hero is fourteen-year-old Cody, who has been captured by the nefarious Confederation of Consolidated Republics. This group has overrun the United States and is hatching Nazi-like purges of its enemies. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that the work will cause readers to "cheer on the good guys without ever fearing that they might not triumph in the end." Paulsen's The Time Hackers also employs elements of science fiction, as a seventh-grader discovers that he is able to travel through time using his laptop computer. "Paulsen writes with his usual skill, creating believable characters and moving the action along at a fairly fast pace," noted Booklist contributor Cindy Welch.

A prolific author whose career has spanned over five decades, Paulsen follows a rigorous writing schedule. As he related to Sharon Miller Cindrich in Writer, he has worked "eighteen hours a day, seven days a week for about ten years. Writers like me are extinct. People don't do that anymore. They don't study. The dedication, obsession, the compulsion-driven need to be like me is just not done anymore. I just work." Asked to describe his motivation, Paulsen replied in typically blunt fashion, "There is no motivation; it's just what I do. It's my nature. The stories are like a river that's going by all the time, and I just ‘bucket in’ and up comes a story. It's a cliché, but it's like that."

Paulsen's concern with literacy is personal: he still believes, as he told David Gale in a School Library Journal interview celebrating his Margaret A. Edwards Award, that "there's nothing that has happened to me that would have happened if a librarian hadn't got me to read…. All of our knowledge, everything we are—is locked up in books, and if you can't read, it's lost." Waging a one-writer campaign against illiteracy, Paulsen consciously crafts his books with clean, spare language in order to attract reluctant readers. It is exactly this empathic power that has made him such a popular and respected author. As Gary M. Salvner commented in Writers for Young Adults: "Whether angry or happy, whether writing about survival or growing up, Gary Paulsen is always a hopeful writer, for he believes that young people must be respected as they are guided into adulthood. And he continues to write enthusiastically, commenting that he has ‘fallen in love with writing, with the dance of it.’ Taken together, Gary Paulsen's sense of purpose and love of writing ensure that he will continue to write enjoyable and effective books for young adults for years to come."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults, Beacham (Osprey, FL), Volume 6, 1994, Volume 7, 1994, Volume 8, 1994, Volume 10, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000, Volume 11, 2001.

Children's Books and Their Creators, edited by Anita Silvey, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995.

Children's Literature Review, Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 19, 1990, Volume 54, 1999.

Drew, Bernard A., The 100 Most Popular Young Adult Authors: Biographical Sketches and Bibliographies, Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1996.

Peters, Stephanie True, Gary Paulsen, Learning Works, 1999.

St. James Guide to Young-Adult Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

Salvner, Gary M., Presenting Gary Paulsen, Twayne (New York, NY), 1996.

Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1995.

Writers for Young Adults, Scribner (New York, NY), 1997.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 1992, Hazel Rochman, review of Nightjohn, pp. 727-728; January 15, 1993, Ilene Coo- per, review of Eastern Sun, Winter Moon: An Autobiographical Odyssey, p. 850; February 15, 1994, Hazel Rochman, review of Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod, p. 1051; March 15, 1995, review of Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered, p. 1323; December 15, 1995, Hazel Rochman, review of Brian's Winter, p. 700; January 1, 1998, Stephanie Zvirin, review of My Life in Dog Years, p. 799; May 15, 1998, Roger Leslie, review of The Transall Saga, p. 1623; June 1, 1998, Carolyn Phelan, review of Soldier's Heart: A Novel of the Civil War, p. 1750; January 1, 1999, reviews of My Life in Dog Years and Soldier's Heart, p. 782, and Stephanie Zvirin, interview with Paulsen, p. 864; February 1, 1999, review of Brian's Return, p. 975, and Kay Weisman, review of Canoe Days, p. 982; February 15, 1999, Karen Harris, review of Sarny: A Life Remembered, p. 1084; June 1, 1999, Roger Leslie, review of Alida's Song, p. 1816; December 1, 1999, Kay Weisman, review of Tucket's Gold, p. 707; July, 2000, review of The Beet Fields: Memories of a Sixteenth Summer, p. 2033; August, 2000, Gillian Engberg, review of The White Fox Chronicles, p. 2131; September 1, 2000, Kay Weisman, review of Tucket's Home, p. 119; December 1, 2000, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Beet Fields, p. 693; February 15, 2001, Kelly Milner Halls, review of Guts: The True Story behind Hatchet and the Brian Books, p. 1128; August, 2001, Elaine Hanson, review of Tucket's Home, p. 2142; September 15, 2001, review of Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats, p. 222; December 15, 2002, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports, p. 754; August, 2003, Kathleen Odean, review of Shelf Life: Stories by the Book, p. 1983; September 1, 2003, Ilene Cooper, review of The Glass Café; or, The Stripper and the State: How My Mother Started a War with the System That Made Us Kind of Rich and a Little Bit Famous, p. 115; January 1, 2004, Michael Cart, review of Brian's Hunt, p. 848; May 15, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of The Quilt, p. 1632; January 1, 2005, Cindy Welch, review of The Time Hackers, p. 860; July 1, 2006, Todd Morning, review of The Amazing Life of Birds: The Twenty-Day Puberty Journal of Duane Homer Leech, p. 52.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 1993, review of Nightjohn, pp. 187-188; January, 1994, review of Harris and Me, pp. 164-165; June, 1995, review of The Tent: A Parable in One Sitting, pp. 356-357; October, 1995, review of The Rifle, pp. 64-65; March, 1998, review of My Life in Dog Years, pp. 254-255; September, 1998, review of Soldier's Heart, p. 26; September, 1999, review of Alida's Song, pp. 26-27; October, 2000, review of The Beet Fields, p. 79; February, 2003, review of How Angel Peterson Got His Name and Other Outrageous Tales about Extreme Sports, p. 247.

Horn Book, July-August, 1983, Dorcas Hand, review of Dancing Carl, pp. 446-447; November-December, 1990, review of Woodsong, p. 762; November, 1998, Nancy Vasilakis, review of Soldier's Heart, p. 737, and Kristi Beavin, review of Sarny, p. 768; January, 1999, review of Brian's Return, p. 69; September, 2001, review of Three Days, p. 590; July-August, 2007, y Carter, review of Lawn Boy, p. 402.

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, October, 2004, Jo Ann Yazzie, review of The Glass Café, p. 175.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 1987, review of The Crossing, p. 1074; June 15, 1991, review of The River, p. 792; January 1, 1993, review of Eastern Sun, Winter Moon, p. 48; January 1, 1993, review of Nightjohn, p. 67; June 1, 2003, review of The Glass Café, p. 809; November 15, 2003, review of Brian's Hunt, p. 1362; April 1, 2004, review of The Quilt, p. 335; September 1, 2004, review of Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day, p. 872.

Kliatt, March, 2003, Jennifer Banas, review of Guts, p. 44; July, 2003, Paula Rohrlick, review of The Glass Café, p. 16; January, 2004, Paula Rohrlick, review of Brian's Hunt, pp. 10-11; May, 2004, Tom Adamich, review of Caught by the Sea, p. 34; May, 2006, Paula Rohrlick, review of The Amazing Life of Birds, p. 13; July, 2006, Janis Flint-Ferguson, review of The Legend of Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Valiant Marshal in the West, p. 12.

Language Arts, September, 1984, Ronald A. Jobe, review of Tracker, p. 527.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, March 21, 1993, Tim Winton, "His Own World War," pp. 1, 11.

New York Times Book Review, August 26, 2006, Anne Goodwin Sides, "On the Road and between the Pages, an Author Is Restless for Adventure"

Publishers Weekly, September 29, 1989, review of The Winter Room, p. 69; December 14, 1992, review of Nightjohn, p. 58; July 3, 1995, review of Call Me Francis Tucket, p. 62; August 11, 1997, review of Sarny, p. 403; May 25, 1998, review of The Transall Saga, p. 91; July 20, 1998, review of Soldier's Heart, p. 221; January 11, 1999, review of Brian's Return, p. 26; May 31, 1999, review of Alida's Song, pp. 94-95; September 6, 1999, review of Sarny, p. 106; February 14, 2000, Leonard S. Marcus, interview with Paulsen, p. 98; June 26, 2000, review of The White Fox Chronicles, p. 75; September 4, 2000, review of The Beet Fields, p. 109; June 25, 2001, review of Canoe Days, p. 75; November 18, 2002, review of Guts, p. 63; January 20, 2003, review of How Angel Peterson Got His Name, p. 83; June 30, 2003, reviews of Shelf Life, p. 79, and The Glass Café, p. 81; August 30, 2004, review of Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day, p. 56; January 24, 2005, review of The Time Hackers, p. 245.

Riverbank Review, spring, 1999, Gary Paulsen, "The True Face of War," pp. 25-26.

School Library Journal, August, 1993, Carol Clark, review of Eastern Sun, Winter Moon, pp. 208-209; January, 1994, Lee Bock, review of Harris and Me, p. 132; May, 1995, Tom S. Hurlburt, review of The Tent, p. 122; August, 1995, review of Winterdance, p. 38; November, 1996, Mollie Bynum, review of Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers: Reflections on Being Raised by a Pack of Sled Dogs, p. 130; June, 1997, David Gale, "The Maximum Expression of Being Human," pp. 24-29; September, 1997, Bruce Anne Shook, review of Sarny, p. 224; March, 1998, review of Wood-song, p. 238; May, 1998, John Peters, review of The Transall Saga, p. 147; September, 1998, Steve Engelfried, review of Soldier's Heart, p. 206; August, 1999, Suzette Kragenbrink, review of The Transall Saga, p. 70; October, 1999, Coop Renner, review of Tucket's Gold, p. 156; January, 2000, Barbara S. Wysocki, review of Soldier's Heart, p. 74; August, 2000, Trish Anderson, review of The White Fox Chronicles, p. 188; September, 2000, Vicki Reutter, review of The Beet Fields, and Victoria Kidd, review of Tucket's Home, p. 235; October, 2001, Vicki Reutter, review of Caught by the Sea, p. 190; February, 2003, Vicki Reutter, review of How Angel Peterson Got His Name, p. 168; August, 2003, Edward Sullivan, review of Shelf Life, p. 164; November, 2003, Carol Fazioli, review of The Beet Fields, p. 84; December, 2003, Sean George, review of Brian's Hunt, p. 158; May, 2004, Vicki Reutter, review of Guts, p. 65, and review of Winterdance, p. 66, and Edith Ching, review of The Quilt, p. 156; September, 2004, Jean Gaffney, review of Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day, p. 215; January, 2005, Diana Pierce, review of The Time Hackers, pp. 134-135; August, 2006, Laurie Slagenwhite, review of The Legend of Bass Reeves, p. 128.

Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 1985, Nel Ward, review of Dogsong, pp. 321-322; June, 1988, Evie Wilson, review of The Island, pp. 89-90; February, 1994, Penny Blubaugh, review of Harris and Me, p. 371; April, 1994, review of Mr. Tucket, p. 29; October, 1994, review of Winterdance, p. 234; February, 1996, review of The Rifle, p. 375; February, 1997, Helen Turner, review of Brian's Winter, p. 332, and review of Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers, p. 352; April, 1998, review of My Life in Dog Years, p. 71; April, 1998, review of Hatchet, p. 42.

Wilson Library Bulletin, January, 1993, Frances Bradburn, "Middle Books," pp. 87-88.

Writer, June, 2004, Sharon Miller Cindrich, "Gary Paulsen's Love Affair with Writing," p. 22.

Writer's Digest, January, 1980, F. Serdahely, "Prolific Paulsen," July, 1994, pp. 42-44, 65.

ONLINE

Random House Web site, (June 9, 2008), "Gary Paulsen."