I was so sad to hear that Gary Paulsen died on Oct 13th. Hatchet and other middle grade survival novels like it were my favorite books when I was in elementary school. But I hadn’t read it in at least 25 years so in memory of Paulsen’s contribution to children’s literature, I decided to give the entire Brian’s Saga a reread. This reread really reminded me why I loved these books.
And now I’m planning rereads of all my childhood favorites. They just make me so very happy.
I also read Paulsen’s short memoir Woodsong yesterday about his time raising dogs and running his first Iditarod race. That was a dream of mine as a kid and while my life never really pushed me in that direction, I still love reading about it.
When I was younger and starting to discover my own love for writing, it was because of writers like Paulsen, Jean Craighead George, Wilson Rawls, and Richard Adams that I really set my heart on being an author. I often wrote stories about survival, animals, and life in the wilderness.
I miss that.
I feel a new story creeping up in the edges of my mind………….
H.J. Swinford 