Author's Information WILD

                                 Author's Information WILD

          Cheryl was born in Strangler Pennsylvania September 17^th, 1968. Later moving to McGregor Minnesota, Cheryl attended McGregor High School, where she was a sports cheerleader, and earned the votes to be homecoming queen. First attending the University of St. Thomas, Cheryl later transferred to the University of Minnesota, where she earned her bachelor degree in English. 1991 is the year she lost her significantly close mother. Struggling to cope with her loss, Cheryl turned to sex and heroin, masking the feelings of grief and denial. Committing adultery, and lacking the emotional commitment, she finalized her divorce in 1995, changing her last name to Strayed. Soon after the divorce, at twenty-six years old, Cheryl started her 1,100-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Hiking the PCT, she traveled alone three months, from the Mojave Desert, through California, and Oregon, to Washington. successfully finishing the PCT hike, Cheryl stayed to live in Portland, Oregon. In Portland, 1999, she remarried filmmaker Brian Lindstrom. With her husband she had two children, one of which acted as a young Cheryl in the movie Wild. 2006 Cheryl published her first book, Torch. Following her novel, she wrote short stories. “Munro County,” earned her the Pushcart Prize in 2010. Others appeared in such publications as The Best American Essays, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine and Salon. In 2012, Strayed’s book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail was published. The book hit No. 1 on The New York Times Bestseller List, and became Oprah Winfrey’s first pick for her re-imagined book club.” (www.biography.com).

             Learning the reality of the authors life, really makes the story so much more personal. Like you know the women behind the mask. The women who’d experienced the visuals you had in your head when reading. The connection between you and the book, becomes the connection between you, and the person who experienced it. That person is out there, and those situations can be life lessons, a sense of hope, or whatever the case may be. These stories are relatable, therefore, so much more personal. 



http://www.biography.com/people/cheryl-strayed