I was
born May 4, 1956, in Seattle, where I attended public schools and passed an unremarkable
childhood informed by little in the way of novelty. I also went to college in Seattle at
the University of Washington (taking a Bachelor's degree in English literature and a
Master's in Creative Writing) and worked summers in those years for the United States
Forest Service, burning slash in clearcuts, piling brush, maintaining trails and fighting
wildfires. Other jobs: I worked in two Seattle restaurants washing dishes and clearing
tables and briefly ran a very poorly thought-out firewood business, which went bankrupt
when my '49, three-ton Chevy lost its clutch and my partner succumbed to
mononucleosis. I married at age 23. My wife and I passed 4 months in Europe with our
first son, living in a Volkswagen van purchased at an American military base in Germany.
Bankrupt again, we came back to Seattle, where I delivered newspapers each morning at 3AM.
More kids (four total). I spent twelve years as a teacher, ten at a public high school
near Seattle. During that time I began to publish stories and essays in small magazines
and periodicals, then sold pieces to Esquire, Sports Illustrated and Harper's.
My first book was published in 1989 (a story collection), my second in 1992 (essays on
family and education), and my third in 1994 (Snow Falling on Cedars, winner of the
PEN Faulkner Award). I've done a lot of freelance journalism, most of it on environmental
issues, but some of it travel writing and human interest features. I am a contributing
editor to Harper's and have done pieces for its pages on a great variety of
subjects. I find that non-fiction is like breathing out between long bouts with fiction.
I like to be out of doors and on foot as much as possible. I've roamed extensively
across Washington State, where the vast majority of my published work is set. The
heartbreaking beauty of the world speaks to me in a powerful way and I feel a constant
compulsion to be in the presence of mountains, rivers, fields, coulees, canyons, breaks,
draws, and woodlands. A sense of place informs much of my work, which is something I can't
seem to help.
Among the influences on David Guterson's work are the physical environs of the Pacific
Northwest, his family, and To Kill A Mockingbird. "I followed very much the
same structure and addressed the same concerns," he says of Harper Lee's classic and
his own award-winning novel, Snow Falling On Cedars. "I'm glad that book was
part of my life."
Other books written by David Guterson:
- Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense (1993)
