Author, adventurer Craig Childs Joins HCN as Contributing Editor

 January 27, 2012

 When you first meet Craig Childs, you might easily imagine him a direct descendant of John Muir. Naturalists, authors and advocates for preservation, they share a unique way of describing deeply personal impressions of the natural world. They also share a somewhat grizzled, bearded look; Childs is often seen with his battered knapsack and keyboard squatting at a spare desk at the High Country News office in Paonia, Colo. Now, the HCN staff will be seeing a lot more of him as they welcome Childs into their stable of regular contributing writers.

 “Craig is one of the most innovative and thoughtful writers currently working in the American West,” says HCN executive director and publisher, Paul Larmer. “We’re thrilled to have him as a regular contributor.”

“He lives in his body and mind to bring his experiences to life for the reader through a personal and intimate writing style,” adds Larmer.

Perhaps Childs describes himself best. This from his website: “I travel the interstitial places, cracks in the sidewalk. I look for the places in between whether I have a month, a day, or a minute. … This morning I was in scrub oak near my house in western Colorado, cock-eyed and backwards in nets of branches finding bones left from mountain lion meals and labyrinths of rabbit paths. It's what I do.”

Childs joins an already notable group of High Country News contributing writers including science journalist Michelle Nijhius; Western water writer Matt Jenkins; economics and community writer Jonathan Thompson; and politics-policy writer Judith Lewis Mernit.

Childs is best known for his work chronicling his desert journeys and his thoughtful exploration of the remains of ancient civilizations. In books like House of Rain, Childs mixes hard-boiled archaeology with evocative natural history writing as he investigates the so-called disappearance of the Anasazi. His latest book, Finders Keepers, suggests that many archaeologists are guilty of committing “plunder” in the name of science.

Among other awards, Childs just received the sixth annual Desert Writers Award from the Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers. The $2,000 grant will support work on his latest book, which is about climate change and the relentless advance of deserts around the world. Read his earlier High Country News stories at hcn.org.

About Craig Childs:

Craig Childs is a writer who focuses on natural sciences, archaeology and his remarkable personal journeys into the wilderness. He has published more than a dozen critically acclaimed books on nature, science and adventure. He is a commentator for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Men's Journal, Outside, Orion, and High Country News. His subjects range from pre-Columbian archaeology to U.S. border issues to the last free-flowing rivers of Tibet and Patagonia.

About High Country News:

For 42 years, High Country News has been renowned for independent journalism that goes just a little deeper as it reports the stories of the American West that are often overlooked by larger media outlets.  

High Country News was founded in 1970 by rancher Tom Bell as a voice for environmental concerns in the West. Today, it is a respected independent news organization that has won numerous awards, including the George Polk award, for its unique coverage of the West.

For more information or to interview Craig Childs, contact:

JoAnn Kalenak
Special Projects Marketer
970-527-4898 x19
joann@hcn.org