John vaillant author biography sample
John Vaillant – A Riveting Exploration of Fire
John Vaillant is a renowned writer and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and more, and he’s also the author of classic books including The Tiger and The Golden Spruce. His most recent book is titled Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, which is a must-read for anyone interested in wildfires, humans’ relationship with fire, and the future of fire-related disasters. And you don’t have to take my word for it– the book won the 2023 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction and was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
Fire Weather tells the story of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire– a historic and apocalyptic fire that torched the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, and spread across nearly 1.5 million acres of forest. With this epic disaster as the focal point, John masterfully weaves in the fascinating histories of fire, the fossil fuel industry, and climate science. He also explores 21st-century wildfires– why they are hotter, more aggressive, and more destructive than anything we’ve seen before. Whether you’re interested in the science of fire and forest health, the fascinating relationship between humans and fire, or you’re just looking for a book that you won’t be able to put down, I give Fire Weather my highest endorsement.
Wildfires are obviously becoming more and more intense and destructive here in the West, so I was excited to chat with John and dig deeper into the history of fire and the outlook for the future. We discussed why he decided to devote many years to writing about this particular wildfire, and how the book’s ingenious structure came to him in a dream. We talk about the similarities between living beings and fire, a fascinating idea known as the Lucretius Problem, some of the story’s larger-than-life characters, John’s long-term goals for the
Vaillant, John 1963(?)–
PERSONAL: Born c. 1963; married; wife an anthropologist and potter); children: two.
ADDRESSES: Home—Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Agent—c/o Author Mail, W.W. Norton and Company, 500 5th Ave., New York, NY 10110.
CAREER: Writer and freelance journalist.
WRITINGS:
The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed, W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 2005.
Contributor to periodicals, including New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic—Adventure, Outside, and Men's Journal.
SIDELIGHTS: Writer and freelance journalist John Vaillant lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with his wife and their two children. His writing has appeared in various publications, including the New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and Outside. His first book, The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed, was developed out of an article he originally wrote for the New Yorker about a rare three-hundred-year-old Sitka spruce tree growing in British Columbia. The tree, which stood one hundred-sixty-five feet high, was cut down by Grant Hadwin, a logger who had become an activist. After felling the tree, Hadwin left his clothes and belongings along the shore of a river in Queen Charlotte Islands and jumped into the water while still carrying his chainsaw. Not only had the tree been an ancient part of the forest, but it had spiritual and symbolic meaning for the local Haida natives, representing a golden child from their mythology. Even logging companies had respected the old tree, including it as one of those traditionally spared when they were cutting through the forest. Hadwin disappeared soon after he chopped down the spruce, but continued to receive death threats and to be sought after for his crime. Vaillant includes a history of the tree, as well as addressing environmentalism as it affects the native Canadians, loggers, and environmentalists themselves.
According to John Marshall, a reviewer for the Sea AA/MM: You began your writing career as a journalist and then published two very successful nonfiction books (The Golden Spruce and The Tiger) before turning your attention to fiction (The Jaguar’s Children). How does your fiction-writing process differ from your nonfiction one? JV: Fiction is harder than nonfiction, certainly for me anyway. The nonfiction was practice for the fiction. With nonfiction, the story is already there. It’s more like painting by numbers. Of course, you still have to assemble the story, but the basic spine of it is there. You’re taking an intact fossil, unearthing it, standing it back up and bringing it back to life. But in fiction, you’re creating a whole new beast. There’s no fixed reference point. You can’t go back and check a newspaper article or ask somebody. It’s all on you. It’s a daunting responsibility. I approach both forms intuitively, though. There’s an intuitive quality that informs my nonfiction, but it’s more pronounced in fiction because the whole thing is coming as a progressive vision. None of my books are planned out. Each one is a voyage of discovery — fiction only more so. AA/MM: Like your nonfiction, your first novel is meticulously researched. NPR calls it “a beautiful example of how research can turn into a living piece of narrative.” How do you know when your research material will be best suited to nonfiction or when you’d rather have the freedom and flexibility of fiction? JV: Based on my one single novel, the voice of Hector that came to me wasn’t an actual person. But that’s who I listened to. Regarding fiction, I still needed to do research or Hector wouldn’t have had credibility. That’s where fiction and nonfiction use the same tools, especially if the writer is trying to create something that feels real and is historically and culturally authentic. AA/MM: You had started a second novel before the Fort McMurray fire caught your attention and drew you back to non Winners of the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fictionJohn Vaillant
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