VANSTRUM, Glenn S.

PERSONAL:

Born in MN; married; wife's name, Diane; children: Erik, Nicholas. Education: Grinnell College, B.A., 1974; University of California, San Diego, M.D. (anesthesiology and emergency medicine), 1980.

ADDRESSES:

Home—La Jolla, CA. Office—c/o Vanstrum Nature Photography, Market Place Color, 1760 Tullie Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30329.

CAREER:

Physician, photographer, and journalist. Executive in Vanstrum Nature Photography, La Jolla, CA, and Atlanta, GA.

MEMBER:

Phi Beta Kappa.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Anesthesia in Emergency Medicine, Little Brown (Boston, MA), 1989.

The Saltwater Wilderness (nonfiction), Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to books, including American Nature Writing: 1999, edited by John Murray, Oregon State University Press (Corvalis, OR), 1999; American Nature Writing: 2001, edited by Murray, Oregon State University Press, 2001; and American Nature Writing: 2002, edited by Murray, Fulcrum Publishing, 2002. Contributor to periodicals, including California Wild, Ocean Realm, Sierra, and Los Angeles Times.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A book on apex marine predators, a series of children's books, and a collection of short stories.

SIDELIGHTS:

The arc of Glenn Vanstrum's life and career has taken him from Minnesota to California, and along the way he has acquired skills and talents in a number of areas—including anesthesiology and emergency medicine, his specialty as a medical doctor. But his "day job" is only one aspect of the body of work produced by Vanstrum, who first developed a love of the outdoors in the wild northern portion of his native state. He graduated from the National Outdoor Leadership School in the Wind River Range of Wyoming, and studied science and music at Grinnell College in Iowa before moving to California. There he discovered the largest wilderness on the planet: the ocean. Emblematic of the diversity in Vanstrum's pursuits are the titles of his first two published books: Anesthesia in Emergency Medicine and The Saltwater Wilderness.

Margaret Rioux in Library Journal called the second of these a "collection of fascinating essays" that she recommended for any library where "there is, or should be, an interest in preserving the oceans." As Rioux noted, while Vanstrum uses as his point of departure in each chapter a specific locale or activity involved in surfing or diving, he eventually brings to bear a variety of topics relating to everything from ecology to history, and from marine biology to politics. "Whether he's riding the waves or diving below them," wrote Donna Seaman in Booklist, "Vanstrum is a well-informed and engagingly informative marine explorer and advocate."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2003, Donna Seaman, review of The Saltwater Wilderness, p. 1025.

Library Journal, February 15, 2003, Margaret Rioux, review of The Saltwater Wilderness, p. 166.

Nature Conservancy, spring, 2003, Cathy Asato, review of The Saltwater Wilderness.

ONLINE

Glenn Vanstrum Home Page,http://www.vanstrum.net (September 14, 2003).*