Jordan Fisher Smith Papers on Environmental Writing, 1927-2013, bulk 1970-2013

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Smith, Jordan Fisher
Abstract:
Correspondence, notebooks, drafts, clippings and one scrapbook documenting Jordan Fisher Smith's career as a writer and his work with the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the California State Parks.
Extent:
9.9 linear feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jordan Fisher Smith Papers on Environmental Writing, D-650, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

Eleven boxes and one scrapbook of materials documenting Jordan Fisher Smith's career as a writer and his work with the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the California State Parks.

The collection contains correspondence with writers, artists, and other public figures, including Wendell Berry, Amy Tan, Gary Snyder, Rebecca Solnit, Jim Herrington Tom Killion, and Joe Breeze as well as letters from readers, publishers, and editors. Jordan Fisher Smith's writing process is documented through personal notebooks, research files, and annotated drafts of his books Nature Noir and Engineering Eden as well as his shorter works.

The collection also documents public lands management, wildlife management and interactions of humans with large carnivores, flood control history, and climate in the Sacramento Valley.

Biographical / historical:

Jordan Fisher Smith (1955-) is a California narrative nonfiction and nature writer. Born in San Francisco to a German immigrant mother and an English immigrant father, he was raised along the boundaries of Muir Woods National Monument and Mt. Tamalpais State Park in Marin County. Smith later worked as a park and wilderness ranger and firefighter for the US Forest Service, National Park Service, and California State Parks in the northern Rocky Mountains, California, and Alaska.

Smith began publishing with a 1991 essay in a professional journal urging park rangers to discuss climate change and mass extinction with park visitors. His 1992 interview with Al Gore appeared in Orion during that year's presidential campaign, when Smith was working in the Alaskan bush. He later wrote for Men's Journal, the New Yorker, Orion, Discover, Aeon, Time.com, The Daily Beast, and other periodicals. His first book, Nature Noir (2005), a memoir of his work as a ranger in the canyons of the American River condemned to be inundated by the uncompleted Auburn Dam, was lauded by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsweek, Outside magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Seattle Times, and other outlets. His second book Engineering Eden (2016) won a 2017 California Book Award and was longlisted for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing. Smith also appears in three films, one of which, "Under Our Skin," (Open Eye Pictures) made the 2010 Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature.

Biography by Jordan Fisher Smith

Acquisition information:
Gift of Jordan Fisher Smith, 2019.
Processing information:

Liz Philips prepared the collection-level finding aid information, the biography, and Series 1: Notebooks. Series 2 to 12 were processed by Jason Sarmiento, Vanessa Cardona Ocegueda, and Toby Chao.

Physical location:
Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research with the exception of forensic photographs and archaeological surveys.The archaeological survey's of the Auburn Dam area are restricted to qualified researchers who receive permission from the Head of Archives and Special Collections.

Terms of access:

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jordan Fisher Smith Papers on Environmental Writing, D-650, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292, US
Contact:
(530) 752-1621
speccoll@ucdavis.edu
Website