Philip Otis Environmental Authors Program
Visiting Authors
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A distinguished author whose work focuses on environmental themes is invited to The Blake School biannually. Authors immerse themselves in the school community by spending time at each campus, attending and/or facilitating classes, meeting with faculty and staff, and interacting with parents and students outside the school day. Faculty and staff are exposed to the authors' works through book groups prior to the visit, and portions of the year's curriculum at all divisions are built around the author's literary themes.
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• Previous visiting authors:
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Barry Lopez (1998)
Terry Tempest Williams (2000)
Robert Hass (2002)
Linda Hogan (2003)
Jim Brandenburg (2005)
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2007-08 Visiting Author: Dan O'Brien
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Dan O'Brien's work spans the literary genres—including novels, short stories, and non—fiction-but never strays far from the landscape of the Great Plains. Falcons, buffalo, and the spirited people who inhabit that expansive land are at the heart of his stories. Twice the recipient of National Endowment of the Arts individual artist grants, O'Brien also won Western Heritage Awards for Buffalo for the Broken Heart and The Contract Surgeon, and was the 2001 recipient of the Bush Creative Arts Fellowship. His 1986 short story collection, Eminent Domain, won the Iowa Short Fiction Award.
A trained wildlife biologist and dedicated falconer, O'Brien was instrumental in the restoration of peregrine falcons to the Rocky Mountains in the 1970s and '80s. Today he dedicates much of his energy to buffalo ranching, and to chronicling the gradual return of his land to ecological balance after decades of cattle ranching. In addition to writing (he's working on a new novel), Dan also teaches ecology, serves on the boards of several organizations, and runs Wild Idea Buffalo Company from his ranch.
Dan O'Brien will visit The Blake School from April 13-17, 2008. More information on his schedule, and events related to the visit, will be released closer to that date.
To learn more about Dan O'Brien, visit Wild Idea Buffalo Company.
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