Author Study

Gary ran away from home at the young age of 14 He traveled with a carnival where he acquired his taste for adventure Leading him to such jobs as a farm hand, an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and even a sailor. He even raced in the Alaskan Iditarod…Twice! Gary Paulsen knew how to work hard for what he wanted, and these adventures provided ample amounts of material for his stories.

Paulsen’s realization that he would become a writer came suddenly He worked as a satellite technician for an aerospace firm in California, and one night he decided not to come back to his job. Instead he became a magazine proofreader, and worked on his own writing every night. Often putting in 19 to 20 hour days.

Loving the dogs Running 1000 miles long

Although Gary Paulsen has written many books (175) and short stories for both kids and adults, he’s most famous for these three books: Hatchet Dogsong The Winter Room

“If books could have more, give more, be more, show more, they would still need readers who bring to them sound and smell and light and all the rest that can’t be in books. The book needs you.” “Reading for me is spending time with a friend. A book is a friend. You can never have too many.” “…so much of all living is patience and thinking.” (why do you think this last quote is so important?)

About Gary Gary's Many Books About the Iditarod