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Alan H. Weisman (born March 24, 1947) is an American author, professor and journalist.
Weisman was born on March 24, 1947, inMinneapolis,Minnesota. He holds a bachelor's degree in literature and a master's degree in journalism fromNorthwestern University. From 2004 to 2013, he was Laureate Professor in Journalism and Latin American Studies at theUniversity of Arizona, where he led an annual field program in international field journalism. He has also taught writing and journalism atPrescott College andWilliams College and has been aFulbright Scholar inColombia.
He has written several books and won numerous international awards for his work in journalism and literature. His works include the critically acclaimedThe World Without Us, which describes a post-human scenario of the planet andCountdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?, was short listed for aLos Angeles Times science and technology book prize. Among his other works areGaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World (1998), winner of the Social Inventions Award from the Global Ideas Bank,An Echo In My Blood (1999),La Frontera: The United States Border With Mexico andWe, Immortals (1979). His reports from around the world have appeared inHarper's,The New York Times Magazine, theLos Angeles Times magazine, theAtlantic Monthly,Orion,Audubon,Mother Jones,Discover,Condé Nast Traveler,Resurgence and several anthologies, includingThe Best American Science Writing 2006.
Weisman is also a producer of radio documentaries for Homelands Productions, creating reports forNational Public Radio andAmerican Public Media.
Among his awards and citations are the Four Corners Award for Best Nonfiction Book, The Wenjin Prize from the National Library of China, a Los Angeles Press Club Award for Best Feature Story, a Best of the West Award in Journalism, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Citation, the Unity Media Award, the Brazilian government's Premio Nacional de Jornalismo Radiofonico, and major grants fromThe Ford Foundation, theCorporation for Public Broadcasting, theRockefeller Foundation and theMacArthur Foundation. His bookThe World Without Us was a finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award, the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Orion Prize, and the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award.Countdown won the 2013 Paris Book Festival Prize for nonfiction, the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the 2014 Nautilus Gold Book Award, the Population Institute’s 2014 Global Media Award for best book, and was a finalist for the Orion Prize and the Books for a Better Life Award.
Weisman appeared as a guest onThe Daily Show on August 21, 2007, and onReal Time with Bill Maher on March 14, 2014.
Though many call him a misanthrope, Weisman asserts that he is not. He believes "birds aren't the only thing that can sing on this planet".Weisman lives inMassachusetts with his wife, Beckie Kravetz, who is a sculptor and mask maker.
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