Peter Matthiessen

Peter Matthiessen
Melissa Eagan, WNYC New York Public Radio · CC BY 2.0 · source
Name	Peter Matthiessen
Birth date	May 22, 1927
Birth place	New York City, New York, United States
Death date	April 5, 2014
Death place	Sagaponack, New York, New York, United States
Occupation	Novelist, Naturalist, Zen Buddhist

Peter Matthiessen was a renowned American novelist, naturalist, and Zen Buddhist who wrote extensively on nature, wildlife conservation, and human rights. His work often explored the intersection of humanity and the natural world, drawing inspiration from his travels to Africa, Asia, and South America. Matthiessen's writing was influenced by his interests in Zen Buddhism, which he studied under the guidance of Soen Nakagawa and Eido Tai Shimano at the Zen Studies Society. He was also a member of the Paris Review editorial board, alongside George Plimpton and William Styron.

● Early Life and Education

Matthiessen was born in New York City to a family of Dutch and Irish descent, and spent his childhood in Morocco and France. He attended Yale University, where he studied English literature and was a member of the Skull and Bones Society, alongside William F. Buckley Jr. and McGeorge Bundy. After graduating from Yale University, Matthiessen served in the United States Navy during World War II, and later worked as a CIA agent in Paris, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. He also attended the Sorbonne, where he studied French literature and was influenced by the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.

● Career

Matthiessen's writing career spanned over five decades, during which he published numerous novels, essays, and non-fiction books. He was a prominent figure in the American literary scene, and his work was often compared to that of Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. Matthiessen was also a prolific journalist, and his articles were published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Harper's Magazine. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and served on the board of the National Audubon Society, alongside Rachel Carson and Roger Tory Peterson.

● Literary Works

Matthiessen's literary works include the novel At Play in the Fields of the Lord, which was nominated for the National Book Award, and the non-fiction book The Snow Leopard, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. He also wrote Far Tortuga, a novel about piracy in the Caribbean, and Killing Mister Watson, a novel about the Everglades and the Seminole Wars. Matthiessen's work was often praised for its lyrical prose and its ability to capture the beauty and complexity of the natural world, as seen in the works of Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold. His writing was also influenced by his interests in anthropology, and he was a friend and colleague of Margaret Mead and Claude Lévi-Strauss.

● Awards and Recognition

Matthiessen received numerous awards and honors for his writing, including the National Book Award for Nonfiction for The Snow Leopard, and the Heinz Award for his contributions to environmental writing. He was also awarded the John Burroughs Medal for his work in nature writing, and the Lannan Literary Award for his contributions to American literature. Matthiessen was a Guggenheim Fellow, and received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Science Foundation, which allowed him to travel to India and study Buddhism under the guidance of the Dalai Lama.

● Personal Life

Matthiessen was married three times, and had four children. He lived in Sagaponack, New York, where he was a neighbor of Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller. Matthiessen was a Zen Buddhist practitioner, and was ordained as a Zen priest by Eido Tai Shimano. He was also a conservationist, and worked to protect the wildlife and wilderness areas of North America, particularly in the Adirondack Mountains and the Grand Canyon. Matthiessen was a friend and colleague of Edward Abbey and Annie Dillard, and was influenced by their work in environmentalism and nature writing.

● Death and Legacy

Matthiessen died on April 5, 2014, at the age of 86, in Sagaponack, New York. His death was mourned by the literary community, and he was remembered for his contributions to American literature and environmental writing. Matthiessen's work continues to be widely read and studied, and his legacy as a novelist, naturalist, and Zen Buddhist remains unparalleled. His writing has been compared to that of Walt Whitman and Henry James, and his influence can be seen in the work of Jonathan Franzen and Barbara Kingsolver. Matthiessen's work will continue to inspire future generations of writers, conservationists, and spiritual seekers, and his legacy will be remembered for its contributions to American culture and the environmental movement. Category:American novelists