Cheryl Strayed facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cheryl Strayed
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Strayed in 2012
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| Born | Cheryl Nyland September 17, 1968 Spangler, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Education | University of St. Thomas University of Minnesota (BA) Syracuse University (MFA) |
| Subject | Memoir, fiction, personal essays, advice |
| Notable works | Torch Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail Brave Enough |
| Spouse |
Marco Littig
(m. 1988; div. 1995)Brian Lindstrom
(m. 1999) |
| Children | 2 |
Cheryl Strayed (born September 17, 1968) is an American writer and podcast host. She is known for her inspiring books and advice columns. Her most famous book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, tells the story of her long hike. This book became a bestseller and was even made into a movie.
Contents
Who is Cheryl Strayed?
Cheryl Strayed was born Cheryl Nyland in Spangler, Pennsylvania. She is a talented writer who shares her life experiences and wisdom with readers. She has written several popular books. She also gives advice through her famous "Dear Sugar" column and podcasts.
Her Early Life
When Cheryl was six, her family moved from Pennsylvania to Chaska, Minnesota. Her parents divorced soon after. When Cheryl was 12, her mother married Glenn Lambrecht. The family then moved to a rural area in Aitkin County, Minnesota. They lived in a house they built themselves on a large piece of land. For the first few years, their house did not have electricity or running water.
Cheryl graduated from McGregor High School in 1986 at age 17. She was active in sports and was even homecoming queen. She started college at the University of St. Thomas. Later, she transferred to the University of Minnesota. She earned a degree in English and Women's Studies.
In March 1991, while Cheryl was still in college, her mother, Bobbi Lambrecht, died suddenly from lung cancer. She was 45 years old. Cheryl has said that her mother's death was a very important event in her life. She has written about her grief in all of her books and many essays.
After college, Cheryl worked many different jobs. She was a waitress, a youth advocate, and even an emergency medical technician. She did these jobs while also writing and traveling across the United States. In 2002, she earned a special writing degree from Syracuse University. There, she learned from famous writers like George Saunders.
Her Writing Career
Cheryl Strayed is well-known for her "Dear Sugar" advice column. She started writing this column online in 2010. For a while, she wrote it anonymously, meaning no one knew it was her. On Valentine's Day in 2012, she finally revealed that she was "Sugar." Today, she continues to write the column on her Substack newsletter.
Besides her column and books, Cheryl has written essays for many well-known magazines. These include The New York Times Magazine and Vogue. She also won an award called the Pushcart Prize for one of her essays. This essay was about a letter she received from the famous writer Alice Munro.
Torch
Cheryl's first book was a novel called Torch. It was published in 2006. Critics gave it good reviews. The book was also chosen as one of the top ten books of 2006 by writers in the Pacific Northwest.
Wild
Her second book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, came out in 2012. This book is a true story about her life. It describes her 1,100-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995. She took this long hike to help her deal with personal struggles after her mother's death.
Wild quickly became a huge success. It appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. In June 2012, Oprah Winfrey chose Wild for her new book club. This made the book even more popular. Wild reached number one on the New York Times Best Seller list and stayed there for seven weeks. It has been translated into 37 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.
Just a few months before Wild was published, actress Reese Witherspoon decided to make it into a movie. The film Wild was released in 2014. Reese Witherspoon played Cheryl Strayed in the movie. The film was very successful and earned Academy Award nominations for Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, who played Cheryl's mother.
Tiny Beautiful Things
In July 2012, Cheryl's third book was published. It was called Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. This book is a collection of her popular "Dear Sugar" advice columns. It also became a bestseller.
Tiny Beautiful Things has been adapted into a play. It first showed in New York City in 2016. In 2022, Hulu ordered a television series based on the book. The show came out in 2023 and was praised by critics. Cheryl Strayed was also a writer and producer for the TV show.
Brave Enough
Cheryl's fourth book, Brave Enough, was published in 2015. This book also appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Podcasts and Public Speaking
Cheryl Strayed is also a popular public speaker. She gives talks about her life and her books. She travels to lead writing workshops for aspiring writers. In 2017, she taught a workshop at a school in Nepal. Her conversations with the girls there led her to make a short film about challenges faced by girls in that region.
She has also hosted two successful podcasts for The New York Times. From 2014 to 2018, she co-hosted Dear Sugars. In 2020, she launched another podcast called Sugar Calling. This podcast started during the COVID-19 pandemic. It featured interviews with authors over 60, who shared advice on coping with difficult times.
Awards and Recognition
In August 2019, Cheryl Strayed was honored in New York City. A statue of her was created as part of a project called "Statues for Equality." This project aims to have more statues of women in public places.
Her Personal Life
Cheryl Strayed married Marco Littig in 1988. They divorced in 1995. After her divorce, she changed her last name to Strayed. She chose this name because she liked its meaning and how it sounded.
In 1999, Cheryl married filmmaker Brian Lindstrom. They have two children together. They live in Portland, Oregon. Their daughter, Bobbi Strayed Lindstrom, played a younger version of Cheryl in the movie Wild.
Cheryl has also been involved in groups that support women writers and other progressive causes.
Books by Cheryl Strayed
Novels
- Torch, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. Republished with new introduction by the author, Vintage Contemporaries, 2012.
Non-fiction
- Autobiographies
- Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Knopf, 2012.
- Self-help
- Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, Vintage Books, 2012.
- Brave Enough, Knopf, 2015.
Movies and TV Shows Based on Her Books
- Wild (2014), a film based on her autobiography Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.
- Tiny Beautiful Things (TV series) (2023), a TV series.
See also
In Spanish: Cheryl Strayed para niños
