Gary Paulsen
The Life and Times
Life
Paulsen's upbringing wasn't exactly stable. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 17, 1939, Paulsen barely knew his parents thanks to their occupations. His father served in the military, bringing Paulsen along to places like the Phillippines, which later appeared as themes in his writing. One thing about Paulsen is for sure - his life may not always have been magical, but he has managed to transform his experiences into magical stories which will captivate every young adult reader.
Wild
A general theme which runs throughout Paulsen's writing is the constant presence of the wilderness. This isn't really a surprise, given Paulsen's longtime acquaintance with his friend, the wild. While he was growing up as an aspiring author, Paulsen would often spend long periods of time - weeks, even months - alone in the wilderness, seeking a simpler kind of life to deal with the stress and pressure of his real one.
DOGS
During one of Paulsen's jobs, he was gifted a team of sled dogs to help him out. Little did he know at that time that those dogs would change his life. He would spend days on end running with the dogs, and decided to pursue dogsled racing. He would go so far as to enter the grueling 1200-mile Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska, and wrote about his experiences in the award-acclaimed Dogsong.
