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Win Blevins

Win Blevins

Win Blevins, of Cherokee, Irish, and Welsh descent, is from a family that was on the move, always west. Win's childhood was spent roaming, his dad a railroad man. Win listened to the whistles blow at night and wanted to go wherever the trains went.

Using scholarships, Win ran through a succession of colleges, receiving his master's degree, with honors, in English from Columbia University. He taught at Purdue University, then received a fellowship to attend USC. Win became a newspaperman—a music, theater, and film critic for both major Los Angeles papers. In 1972 he took the big leap—he quit his job to write out his passions, exploring wild places full time. His greatest passion has been to set the stories of these places, their people and animals, colors and smells, into books.

Win climbed mountains for ten years. He's rafted rivers in the west, particularly the Snake and the San Juan, and was briefly a river guide. His love of the great Yellowstone River gave him a fine appreciation for the people who first loved these wild places. Along the way, Win lost the use of his legs and learned to sail, deciding a boat was a good place for a man without legs. He regained the use of his legs and maintains his love of the open seas.

Win is a NYTimes bestselling novelist. He has written many books about the mountain trappers and is known for his “mastery of western lore.” His notable works include Stone SongSo Wild a Dream, and Dictionary of the American West. Blevins has won numerous awards, including being named winner of the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement in writing literature of the West, being selected for the Western Writers Hall of Fame, being named ‘Writer of the Year' by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers three timesand winning two Spur Awards for Novel of the West.

He lives quietly in the Southwest. His passions grow with time—his wife Meredith, the center of his life, and their numerous kids and grandkids. Classical music, baseball, roaming red rock mesas in the astonishing countryside, playing music… He considers himself blessed to be one of the people creating new stories about the west and is proud to call himself a member of the world's oldest profession—storyteller.

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