David Gessner
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David Gessner is an American
essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...
ist,
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
ist,
nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
writer,
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
, and
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
ist. Gessner was born in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and grew up in
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
. He attended
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
where he worked at the ''
Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the college sports teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports teams for women and men at Harva ...
'' drawing political cartoons, most notably a drawing of
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
urinating on an unemployed man in the gutter, entitled "The Trickle Down Theory". He was awarded his degree in 1983. He is married to the novelist Nina de Gramont. He is the author of fourteen books that blend a love of nature, humor, memoir, and environmentalism, including ''Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness'' and the ''New York Times''-bestselling ''All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner and the American West''. His prizes include a Pushcart Prize, the John Burroughs Award for Best Nature Essay, the Association for Study of Literature and the Environment’s award for best book of creative writing, and the Reed Award for Best Book on the Southern Environment. In 2017 he appeared on the National Geographic Explorer show "The Call of the Wild".


Teaching and editing

He returned to Harvard as a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Environmental Writing in Fall 2003. In 2004, he began teaching at the
University of North Carolina Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington, or University of North Carolina at Wilmington, (UNC Wilmington or UNCW) is a Public university, public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Caroli ...
, where he is currently th
Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor
He is the editor in chief of ''
Ecotone An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it ma ...
'', the environmental journal he founded in 2004, which has published the work of writers as diverse as Wendell Berry,
Denis Johnson Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, ''Jesus' Son (short story collection), Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most succes ...
, Gerald Stern,
Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from several tribes. He grew up ...
, and Marvin Bell. Recent work from the journal has been chosen for many anthologies, including the Pushcart Prize and '' Best American Short Stories'' edited by
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
, as well as Best American Poetry and Best American Essays.


Recent books and awards

Gessner is the author of fourteen books of nonfiction, including, most recently ''The Book of Flaco, A Traveler's Guide To The End of The World, "All The Wild That Remains:'' ''Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner and the American West'', as well as the ''Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession, and My Wild Youth; the New York Times'' bestseller. ''The Tarball Chronicles'' won the 2012 Reed Award for Best Book on the Southern Environment and the Association for Study of Literature and the Environment’s award for best book of creative writing in 2011 and 2012.


Magazine and journal writing

Gessner's most recently published articles have been via Orion magazine, where he has an active column covering climate change. His essays have appeared in many magazines and journals including ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
'', ''
Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * '' ...
'', '' The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008'', ''Onearth'', ''
The Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Ficti ...
'', ''
The American Scholar "The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to Phi Beta Kappa society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his groundb ...
'', '' Orion'', ''The Boston Sunday Globe Magazine'', ''The Harvard Review'', and the 2''006 Pushcart Prize Anthology,'' for which the essay "Benediction" was selected. In April 2007, Gessner won the John Burroughs award for Best Natural History Essay of the year. In 2008, his essay, "The Dreamer Did Not Exist", appeared in '' The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008'',The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008"> edited by
Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. His 2000 memoir, '' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'', became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is a ...
, and in September of that year his essay on teaching and writing, "Those Who Write, Teach", appeared in the Sunday ''
New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazin ...
.''


Television, online work, and blog

Gessner is the co-creator of Bill and Dave's Cocktail Hour, a website for which he and author Bill Roorbach write blogs. In January 2016, he served as the host of the National Geographic Explorer television show, Call of the Wild, which explored how viewing screens is affecting our brains adversely and how nature can be restorative. In October 2013, he appeared on MSNBC's ''The Cycle'' to offer his take on the anniversary of
Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...
.


Literary works

In 1997, Gessner published ''A Wild, Rank Place'', a short memoir about spending a year on
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...
and tending to his father, who was dying of cancer. The book subverted the typical Thoreauvian year-in-the-woods theme with its dark themes and blunt language. This was followed by ''Under the Devil’s Thumb'', a collection of essays about an easterner's years spent in the west, years made more vital and radiant by the author's own recovery from testicular cancer. Since 2001, Gessner has published seven more books that combine memoir with humor and observations of the natural world, beginning with ''Return of the Osprey'', in 2001. ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' and Book of the Month Club both chose Osprey as one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2001, the Globe calling it a "classic of American Nature Writing". In 2003, Gessner published ''Sick of Nature''. ''Sick of Nature'' has been much-anthologized and taught at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
and
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and many other colleges. Of ''Sick of Nature'', renowned eco-critic Michael Branch wrote, "Gessner has positioned himself as a sort of
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
of environmental writers" and "like Emerson, who observed that the dead forms of institutional practice must be revivified through radical acts of intellectual, aesthetic, and moral imagination, Gessner rails against the narrowness of environmental literature to open the field to new (if less earnest) approaches." This was followed by ''The Prophet of Dry Hill'', which described a series of encounters with the great nature writer
John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a Secretary to the President of the United States, private secretary for Abraha ...
. In ''Soaring with Fidel'', released in April 2007, Gessner continued to push the nature genre, following the entire 7,000 mile migration of ospreys from
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
to Cuba and Venezuela.


Bibliography

*''A Wild, Rank Place: One Year on Cape Cod'', (1997) *''Under the Devil's Thumb'', (1999) *''Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder'', (2002) *''Sick of Nature'', (2004) *''The Prophet of Dry Hill: Lessons from a Life in Nature'', (2005) *''Soaring with Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey from Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond'', (2008) *''My Green Manifesto: Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism'', (2011) *''The Tarball Chronicles: A Journey Beyond the Oiled Pelican and Into the Heart of the Gulf Oil Spill'', (2012) *''All the Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West'', (2016) *''Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession, and My Wild Youth'', (2017) *''Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness'', (2020) *''A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World'' (June 20, 2023) *''The Book of Flaco: The World’s Most Famous Bird'' (2025)


References


External links


David Gessner's Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gessner, David 1961 births Living people American essayists American male essayists Writers from North Carolina Writers from Massachusetts The Harvard Crimson people Harvard College alumni