David Gessner

David Gessner is the author of 14 books, including All the Wild That Remains and A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World. The fall of 2025 marked the publication of a 25th-anniversary edition of his Return of the Osprey. He is the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he founded the journal Ecotone. His website is davidgessner.net.

On the Trail of Jeremiah

Robert Redford, the lure of the West, and the art of getting away

By David Gessner | Monday March 2, 2026

The Road to Paradise and Back

Fires in the West, hurricanes in the East—what it’s like on the ground as we confront our rapidly changing world

By David Gessner | Thursday December 1, 2022

Remembering Brad

What a stroke of luck when some of your favorite books were written by one of your dearest friends

By David Gessner | Wednesday June 2, 2021

Taking Down Teddy

In our rush to condemn the heroes of the past, we must be sure not to abandon empathy

By David Gessner | Thursday September 10, 2020

Looking Back From the End of the World

What Thoreau can teach us about living life during—and after—the pandemic

By David Gessner | Tuesday June 2, 2020

Dangerous Ground

When confronting matters of race, some boundaries are more easily breached than others

By David Gessner | Tuesday September 4, 2018

A Planet in Peril

Can humanity engineer its way out of trouble?

By David Gessner | Monday March 5, 2018

The Taming of the Wild

As we celebrate the centenary of the National Park Service, a meditation on “the best idea that America ever had”

By David Gessner | Monday June 6, 2016

On the Trail of Jeremiah

By David Gessner | Monday March 2, 2026

The Road to Paradise and Back

By David Gessner | Thursday December 1, 2022

Remembering Brad

By David Gessner | Wednesday June 2, 2021

Taking Down Teddy

By David Gessner | Thursday September 10, 2020

Dangerous Ground

By David Gessner | Tuesday September 4, 2018

A Planet in Peril

By David Gessner | Monday March 5, 2018

The Taming of the Wild

By David Gessner | Monday June 6, 2016

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