E46 — David Gessner: Vacation with a Purpose

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott sits down with author David Gessner, a writer who never wanted to be called a nature writer — and yet became one of the most important voices helping us understand why wild places and birds matter.David is the author of Return of the Osprey, Soaring with Fidel, Leave It As It Is, and The Book of Flaco, among many others. His work explores raptors, wilderness, obsession, humor, grief, and the deep human pull toward the natural world. Scott first encountered David’s writing early in his own birding journey and found in it a model for how storytelling can make wildlife feel personal, immediate, and essential.The conversation moves through David’s career, his resistance to labels, his love of Theodore Roosevelt’s wilderness, the strange and powerful story of Flaco the Eurasian Eagle Owl in New York City, and a phrase Scott openly admits to borrowing from David: “vacation with a purpose.”This is a conversation about how paying attention to birds, landscapes, and wild stories changes the way we move through the world.Learn more about David and his work at https://davidgessner.comFor updates, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes notes from Naturally Scott, subscribe here: https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752