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 books, especially Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, which tells the story of her long hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. This book became a bestseller around the world and was even made into a movie. Cheryl Strayed also writes an advice column and hosts podcasts, sharing her wisdom and experiences with many people.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Cheryl Strayed was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania. She is the second daughter of Barbara Anne "Bobbi" (Young) and Ronald Nyland. When she was six, her family moved to Chaska, Minnesota. Her parents divorced soon after, and her father left. When Cheryl was 12, her mother married Glenn Lambrecht. The family then moved to a rural area in Aitkin County, Minnesota, where they built their own home on 40 acres. For the first few years, their house did not have electricity or running water.
In 1986, at age 17, Cheryl graduated from McGregor High School in McGregor, Minnesota. She worked as a newspaper reporter for a local paper during the summer of 1987. She started college at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Later, she transferred to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. There, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in English and Women's Studies.
In March 1991, while Cheryl was still in college, her mother, Bobbi Lambrecht, sadly passed away from lung cancer at age 45. Cheryl has often said that this loss was a very important moment in her life. She has written about her mother's death and her feelings of grief in her books and essays.
Cheryl worked many different jobs in her twenties and early thirties, including being a waitress and a political organizer. She also traveled a lot around the United States while she was writing. In 2002, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in writing from Syracuse University.
Career as a Writer
Cheryl Strayed is well-known for her writing, which includes novels, memoirs, and advice columns.
Dear Sugar Advice Column
Cheryl Strayed writes the "Dear Sugar" advice column. She started writing it in March 2010 for a website called The Rumpus. For a while, she wrote the column anonymously, meaning no one knew who "Sugar" was. On February 14, 2012, she revealed her identity. Her advice column became very popular, helping many people with their life questions.
Famous Books
Cheryl Strayed has written several successful books that have touched many readers.
Torch: A First Novel
Cheryl's first book was a novel called Torch, published in 2006. It received good reviews from critics. The book was chosen by The Oregonian as one of the top ten books of 2006 by writers living in the Pacific Northwest. In 2012, Torch was re-released with a new introduction written by Cheryl herself.
Wild: A Journey of Self-Discovery
Her second book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, was published in March 2012. This book is a memoir, which means it's a true story about her own life. It describes her 1,100-mile hike in 1995 on the Pacific Crest Trail. This trail goes from the Mojave Desert all the way to the Oregon–Washington state line. The book shares her personal struggles and why she decided to take such a challenging hike.
Soon after it was published, Wild became a bestseller on the New York Times list. In June 2012, Oprah Winfrey chose Wild for her new book club, Oprah's Book Club 2.0. This helped the book become even more popular. The next month, Wild reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and stayed there for seven weeks. The paperback version of Wild spent 126 weeks on the list! The book has been a bestseller in many countries and translated into 37 languages.
In 2014, Wild was made into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed. The movie was very successful and earned nominations for Academy Awards.
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice for Life
In July 2012, Cheryl's third book, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, was published. This book is a collection of her "Dear Sugar" online advice columns. It also became a New York Times Best Seller. In November 2022, a special tenth-anniversary edition of Tiny Beautiful Things was released with new content.
Tiny Beautiful Things was also adapted into a stage play and a television series in 2023. Cheryl Strayed was involved as a writer and executive producer for the TV show.
Brave Enough: Inspiring Thoughts
Cheryl's fourth book, Brave Enough, was published in October 2015. This book also appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list in the advice and self-help category.
Podcasts and Public Speaking
Cheryl Strayed is also a public speaker, giving talks about her life and books. She travels to lead writing workshops and retreats. In 2017, she taught a writing workshop to students at a school in Surkhet, Nepal. She also made a short film about a cultural practice she learned about there.
From 2014 to 2018, she co-hosted a popular podcast called Dear Sugars with Steve Almond. In April 2020, she launched another podcast called Sugar Calling. This podcast featured interviews with authors over 60, sharing their advice during challenging times. Both podcasts were inspired by her "Dear Sugar" advice column.
Awards and Recognition
In August 2019, Cheryl Strayed was honored as one of ten women for whom statues were built in New York City. This project, called Statues for Equality, aims to create more public art celebrating women.
Personal Life
Cheryl Strayed married Marco Littig in August 1988. They divorced in 1995, just before she began her hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. After her divorce, she changed her last name to Strayed. She chose this name because of its meaning and how it sounded with her first name.
In August 1999, Cheryl married filmmaker Brian Lindstrom. They have two children and live in east Portland, Oregon. Her daughter, Bobbi Strayed Lindstrom, played the younger version of Cheryl in the movie Wild.
Cheryl Strayed has been a long-time activist for women's rights and equality. She has been involved in many groups that support these causes.
Books by Cheryl Strayed
Novels
- Torch, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. Republished by 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.
Adaptations of Her Books
- Wild (2014), a film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, based on her autobiography Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.
- Tiny Beautiful Things (TV series) (2023), a television series.
See also
In Spanish: Cheryl Strayed para niños
