Doug Fine is an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, journalist, humorist, and goat herder.

Early life

Fine left the East Coast of the United States for college in 1989. Shortly thereafter, he strapped a pack on his back and began his career as a freelance journalist for such organizations as ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', '' Sierra'', ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'', ''

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 * '' ...

'',

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and many other venues. His investigative reporting took him to five continents, often to remote locations like

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

. One of his dispatches, on Burmese democracy efforts, was read into the

Congressional Record The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Ind ...

. Fine won numerous awards for his radio reporting from rural Alaska before he moved to New Mexico.

''Not Really An Alaskan Mountain Man''

In an experiment to see if someone raised in suburban consumer culture could manage a comfortable life in an extremely rural situation, Fine moved to a remote part of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

in the winter of 1998. The result was his first book, '' Not Really An Alaskan Mountain Man'', published by Alaska Northwest Books, an imprint of

Graphic Arts Center Publishing West Margin Press is a book publishing company. Using two additional imprints — Graphic Arts Books and Alaska Northwest Books — West Margin publishes books that focused on lifestyle and place. History Graphic Arts Center Publishing started i ...

. As Fine works to hone what he calls his "Indigenous Gene," the book is a document of wilderness adventure as Fine learns how to live in a one-room cabin surrounded by moose and "non-liberals."

''Farewell, My Subaru''

Fine's second book, '' Farewell, My Subaru,'' was published March 24, 2009 by

Villard Books Villard, also known as Villard Books, is a publishing imprint of Random House, one of the largest publishing companies in the world, owned in full by Bertelsmann since its acquisition of a final 25% stake in 2019, and grouped in Penguin Random ...

, an imprint of

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

. The book documents life at Fine's Funky Butte Ranch. It became a bestseller and is now in its seventh printing, with Chinese and Korean language editions. Fine's challenges in the book come from dealing with his mischievous goats, setting up his Funky Butte Ranch's solar power system, converting his used truck to run on vegetable oil, and growing his ranch's own crops. ''Farewell, My Subarus critical acclaim in national and international media includes comparisons to

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson ( ; born 8 December 1951) is an American-British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has be ...

and

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

, landing Fine television interviews on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

and on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

''.

''Too High to Fail''

Fine's third book, ''Too High to Fail: Cannabis and the New Green Economic Revolution'', was published by Gotham Books, an imprint of

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media company, media Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a Mergers and acquisitions, mer ...

, on August 2, 2012. Pre-publication reviews included a starred ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' review reading in part, "Fine examines how the American people have borne the massive economic and social expenditures of the failed Drug War, which is "as unconscionably wrong for America as

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

and

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

." A captivating, solidly documented work rendered with wit and humor." Fine began promoting the book with an appearance on the Conan O'Brien show on July 25, 2012. Three weeks after publication, ''Too High to Fail'' debuted at #2 on the ''

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

'' bestseller list.

Personal life

Fine lives on the solar-powered Funky Butte Ranch, where he is a columnist for ''

New Mexico Magazine ''New Mexico Magazine'' was launched in 1923, and is the first state magazine founded in the United States. It is published monthly in print, online, and via an iOS app. Additionally, the magazine also maintains a store, selling New Mexico-relat ...

''.

Works

* ''Not Really An Alaskan Mountain Man'' (2004) * '' Farewell, My Subaru'' (2008) * '' Too High to Fail'' (2012) * '' Hemp Bound'' (2014) * '' American Hemp Farmer'' (2020)

References

External links

Doug Fine's official website
* * (@organiccowboy) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Doug American male writers Living people Writers from Alaska Writers from New Mexico Writers from New York (state) Stanford University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Cannabis writers