Peter Matthiessen, a novelist and naturalist, . A three-time winner of the National Book Award, co-founder of , and contributor to ϳԹ, Matthiessen’s writing often illuminated the grand and tragic aspects of nature.
“There’s an elegiac quality in watching [American wilderness] go, because it’s our own myth, the American frontier, that’s deteriorating before our eyes,” .
“I feel a deep sorrow that my kids will never get to see what I’ve seen, and their kids will see nothing; there’s a deep sadness whenever I look at nature now.”
Matthiessen traveled extensively for his writing, roving through India (for ϳԹ), Africa, and even the Himalayas in his widely acclaimed book . He is the only writer to win the National Book Award for both fiction and nonfiction, though he favored his fiction. “Fiction is my first love, and that’s the way I began,” . “And frankly, when I began nonfiction, I did it for money.”
Despite his motivations, Matthiessen’s nonfiction, as he quoted Albert Camus, spoke for those who could not speak for themselves and had a lasting impact.
“I can hardly point to a victory that we ever won as conservationists that hasn’t been overturned,” he told NPR. “But we won some, too—there were long-lasting victories. And if nothing else, we stalled—stalled them off, the developers and exploiters.”
His latest work, , will be released Tuesday.
We’ll be expanding Matthiessen’s ϳԹ archive in the coming days.