Tecumseh: Nature's Patriot

by Eric Olsen

Chief Tecumseh, leader of the Great Lakes tribe the Shawnee, is a legendary folk hero who resides on the frontiers of history and myth. Before dying in battle, the generous and compassionate leader advocated for Native Americans’ rights over traditional tribal lands in the Ohio region, but with his death, the tribes lost hope of challenging the growing United States. In John Sugden’s new book, the historian attempts to uncover the man behind the myth, using the few historical facts available about Tecumseh. Learn more in this article, made available by The World & I Online.

11 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2012

About the author

I was born and raised in Oakland—go A’s! California. I'm a journalist, editor, and occasional novelist. My sixth non-fiction book, We Wanted to be Writers: Life, Love, and Literature at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was released August 1, 2011. It's a series of conversations about writing, the creative process, the lit biz, and more with nearly 30 classmates and teachers at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the mid-70s. Among them are TC Boyle, Jane Smiley, John Irving, Sandra Cisneros, Allan Gurganus, Michelle Huneven, Joe Haldeman, and Jayne Anne Phillips. My co-editor is Glenn Schaeffer.

As a journalist I write mostly about culture, also health, fitness, sports, and medicine. But I'll write about anything if it's interesting, and I have. For several years I was an executive editor at Time Inc. Health in San Francisco, a TimeWarner company. Later, I was an affiliate associate professor of English at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where I ran the American branch of the International Institute of Modern Letters, which advocated on behalf of censored and persecuted writers.

I received an MFA in fiction writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where I was a Teaching/Writing Fellow. After Iowa, I was awarded a James A. Michener Fellowship for fiction.

I always have a mystery novel or two in the works.