S.J. Dahlstrom

“Sometimes you learn nature’s lessons by hearing them, and sometimes you learn them by experience.  There is no better author writing today describing both.”    – Will Rogers Medallion Award committee

“S.J. Dahlstrom has conjured a countercultural vision of youthful adventure and capability in his fictional series The Adventures of Wilder Good.”   – The Wall Street Journal

S.J. Dahlstrom lives and writes in West Texas with his wife and children. A fifth-generation Texan, Dahlstrom’s Wilder Good series is a four-time winner of the Wrangler Western Heritage Award; also winning the Will Rogers Medallion five times, finalist for the Lamplighter Award four times, and a Spur award along with two a Spur finalists from the Western Writers of America.

Interested in all things outdoors and creative, he writes poetry while bowhunting and collects wildflower seeds when doing ranch work.  He lives by the twin mottos ‘Be Wilder’ and ‘Find Beauty’ and is happiest when he doesn’t have to comb his hair. 

S.J.’s writing draws on his experiences as a cowboy, husband, father— and as a founder of Whetstone Boys Ranch.  He says, “I wrote these stories about Wilder Good for kids who grew up in the outdoors and for kids who long for the outdoors…working, fishing, hunting, farms, ranches, mountains and prairies.  We should not forget that we have real adventure to offer kids, if we can have the courage to turn off our machines and screens and go outside.” 

You can [Email] S.J. or write him at:

Paul Dry Books, Inc.
1700 Sansom Street
Suite 700
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Read interview with author by Wilder Good publisher Paul Dry Books…

Read article below on Dahlstrom’s path to becoming a writer

Click image below for PBS interview…

Click on image below for video of Wrangler Award acceptance speeches…