Doug Fine
Doug Fine is an American author, journalist, humorist, and goat herder.
Early life
Fine left the East Coast of the United States for college in 1989. Shortly thereafter, he strapped a pack on his back and began his career as a freelance journalist for such organizations as The Washington Post, Salon, U.S. News & World Report, Sierra, Wired, Outside, National Public Radio, and many other venues. His investigative reporting took him to five continents, often to remote locations like Burma, Rwanda, Laos, Guatemala and Tajikistan. One of his dispatches, on Burmese democracy efforts, was read into the Congressional Record. Fine won numerous awards for his radio reporting from rural Alaska before he moved to New Mexico.''Not Really An Alaskan Mountain Man''
In an experiment to see if someone raised in suburban consumer culture could manage a comfortable life in an extremely rural situation, Fine moved to a remote part of Alaska in the winter of 1998. The result was his first book, Not Really An Alaskan Mountain Man, published by Alaska Northwest Books, an imprint of Graphic Arts Center Publishing. As Fine works to hone what he calls his "Indigenous Gene," the book is a document of wilderness adventure as Fine learns how to live in a one-room cabin surrounded by moose and "non-liberals."''Farewell, My Subaru''
Fine's second book, Farewell, My Subaru, was published March 24, 2009 by Villard Books, an imprint of Random House. The book documents life at Fine's Funky Butte Ranch. It became a bestseller and is now in its seventh printing, with Chinese and Korean language editions. Fine's challenges in the book come from dealing with his mischievous goats, setting up his Funky Butte Ranch's solar power system, converting his used truck to run on vegetable oil, and growing his ranch's own crops.Farewell, My Subaru's critical acclaim in national and international media includes comparisons to Bill Bryson and Douglas Adams, landing Fine television interviews on CNN and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.