On Wednesday, October 13, 2021, beloved young adult author Gary Paulsen died at the age of 82. Penning over 200 books and short stories since the 1960’s, Paulsen is known for writing coming-of-age stories set in the wilderness for teens and young adults. An outdoorsman himself, Paulsen emphasized the importance of nature and adventure in many of his stories, including his most well-known novel, Hatchet. Published in 1986, Hatchet tells the story of a teenage boy left to survive in the woods with only a hatchet after surviving a plane crash. Paulsen won several awards for his work, including the Newbery Honor Medal for the Hatchet series, as well as the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997. Representatives from Penguin Random House have announced that his final novel, Northwind, will be published posthumously in January 2022. Gary Paulsen will be greatly missed by the literary community. He is survived by his wife and son.
