Biography

Peter Matthiessen was born on May 22, 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991), Knight of Cups (2015) and The Young One (1960). He was married to Maria Eckhart, Deborah Love and Patsy Southgage. He died on April 5, 2014 in Sagaponack, New York, USA.

A Buddhist Priest, in the same school as Leonard Cohen, Michael O'Keefe, Gary Snyder, Peter Coyote, Bernie Glassman, Reb Anderson, Phillip Whalen, Richard Baker, Pat O'Hara, Bonnie Raitt, Laurie Anderson, Soen Roshi, Daido Loori.

Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, vol. 138, pages 306-314. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.

He is the only writer ever to win the National Book Award for both nonfiction and fiction.

He was a C.I.A. agent in Paris, a naturalist, and author of more than 30 books. He co-founded the Paris Review with his childhood friend George Plimpton.

Soon the child's clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions and abstractions. Simple free 'being' becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor of the ego. Not until years later does an instinct come that vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn.

In fiction, you have a rough idea what's coming next - sometimes you even make a little outline - but in fact you don't know. Each day is a whole new - and for me, a very invigorating - experience..In nonfiction, you have that limitation, that constraint, of telling the truth.

A writer has the privilege of portraying both good and evil viewpoints.