A short life of the author
Rick Bass (b. 1958) was born on 7 March 1958 in Fort Worth, Texas. He studied wildlife biology at Utah State University and worked as a petroleum geologist in Mississippi before moving to the Yaak Valley of northwest Montana, where he has lived since 1987 and has been active in conservation efforts to protect the valley’s wilderness.
Life and Career
The Watch (1989) — his first story collection, set in the swamps and small towns of Texas and Mississippi — won the PEN/Nelson Algren Award and established him as a major new voice in the American short story.
Winter: Notes from Montana (1991) — a journal of his first winter in the Yaak Valley — is one of the finest pieces of nature writing about the American West. The Ninemile Wolves (1992) was a classic of wolf writing.
His fiction — including the story collections In the Loyal Mountains (1995), The Hermit’s Story (2002), and The Lives of Rocks (2006) — is characterised by a primal energy, a deep connection to landscape, and an almost shamanistic relationship with the natural world. For a Little While (2016) — a selected stories volume — confirmed his standing as one of America’s preeminent short story writers.
He has also written over a dozen works of environmental nonfiction about the Yaak Valley and served as a tireless advocate for its wilderness designation.
Key Works
- For a Little While (2016)
- The Watch (1989)
- Winter (1991)
Collecting Bass
The Watch (1989, W.W. Norton) brings $20–$50. Early limited editions of his nature writing bring $30–$80.