Gary Paulsen was born May 17, 1939, in Minneapolis, MN. He has been a writer since the 1960s, but prior to that he worked at a wide variety of jobs. Paulsen has created powerful young adult fiction, often set in wilderness or rural areas and featuring teenagers who arrive at self-awareness by way of experiences in nature. He is part of a select group of YA writers who has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring an author's lifetime acheivement in writing books for teens. Paulsen won that award in 1997 and has received numerous other awards and honors. Biographical Source: Something About the Author, Vol. 111, p. 136-144
From the guide to the Gary Paulsen Collection, 1987-, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])
