Gary Paulsen, celebrated children’s author, dies at 82

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Gary Paulsen, the acclaimed and prolific children’s author who often drew upon his rural affinities and wide-ranging adventures for tales that included “Hatchet,” “Brian’s Winter” and “Dogsong,” has died at age 82. Random House Children’s Books says Paulsen died Wednesday. Literary agent Jennifer Flannery said he died at his home in New Mexico. He received the Newbery Honor prize for “Hatchet,” “The Winter Room” and “Dogsong,” a story about a young native Alaskan in search of a simpler past. He also wrote hundreds of articles, poetry, historical fiction and such nonfiction works as the memoir “Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood,” which came out earlier this year. His final novel, “Northwind,” will be published in January.