Paulsen, Gary (1939-2021), was a popular American author of books for young adult readers. Paulsen wrote about 200 books. Many are novels that deal with nature and the outdoors. They feature teenagers who must face some test to survive in the wilderness. Their adventures lead to a new self-awareness. In Hatchet (1987), a teenage boy named Brian Robeson must survive alone in the Canadian wilderness with the aid of only a hatchet. Paulsen wrote four other novels about the boy, The River (1991), Brian’s Winter (1996), Brian’s Return (1999), and Brian’s Hunt (2004). In Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books (2001), Paulsen revealed the parallels between his life and his main fictional characters.
Paulsen wrote or co-wrote several historical novels about Al Murphy, a New Yorker who moves West and becomes a lawman in the late 1800’s. The character appears in Murphy’s Trail (1996) and other stories. Paulsen’s other notable novels include Tracker (1984); Dogsong (1985); The Winter Room (1989); Woodsong (1990); Lawn Boy (2007); and Mudshark (2009). They also include Woods Runner (2010); Road Trip (2013) and its sequel, Field Trip (2015, with his son Jim Paulsen); Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat and Fishbone’s Song (both 2016); and How to Train Your Dad (2021). Gary Paulsen also wrote a collection of tales of animal wisdom called This Side of Wild (2015). In addition, he wrote the semi-autobiographical Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered (1993) and the memoir Gone to the Woods (2021).
Paulsen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 17, 1939. He based much of his fiction and nonfiction on his own outdoor experiences as a hunter, trapper, and dog sled racer in the famous Iditarod race in Alaska. Paulsen died on Oct. 13, 2021. His novel Northwind (2022) was published after his death. It tells the story of a 12-year-old boy’s effort to survive as he sails along a rugged coastline in a canoe after a cholera epidemic devastates the fishing camp where he lived.
