Introduction


Gary Paulsen's novel Woodsong
The highly prolific writer Gary Paulsen has one hobby that not many other authors enjoy: he loves to participate in dog sledding competitions. Perhaps it’s not so strange, then, that most of Paulsen’s stories and novels focus on themes of nature and man’s struggle to find himself through outdoor pursuits. His books are especially popular with young men who are in the process of discovering themselves. Paulsen has won many prestigious awards, including the Newbery Medal for his novel The Winter Room, and his books Woodsong and Winterdance are perhaps the most famous books ever written about the Iditarod, a 1,150-mile dog sledding race. Paulsen resides in New Mexico, but he also owns a ranch in Alaska where he breeds and trains—can you guess?—sled dogs.

Essential Facts

  1. Paulsen ran away from home and joined a carnival when he was just 14. After that, he had many different jobs—engineer, truck driver, sailor, and satellite technician.
  2. Gary Paulsen’s earliest writing job was as a magazine proofreader in Hollywood, California. He left that job for a cabin in Minnesota where he completed his first novel within a few months.
  3. Paulsen is extremely critical of modern technology and tries to live a simple life.
  4. Paulsen’s body of work includes over 200 books, 200 articles and stories, and many plays.
  5. Paulsen and his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen, currently own a boat in the Pacific, and he is in the process of writing about their many adventures. His wife is an artist and has done the illustrations for many of his novels.