About Natural Stories

"Mr. Clayton writes with clarity, passion and insight." —Wall Street Journal

“Clayton uses entertaining anecdotes, thorough research, and vivid storytelling.” —Big Sky Journal

Hi, I’m John Clayton. For the last 35 years, I’ve lived fulltime in a small Montana town, writing books and articles at the intersection of nature, history, and culture. My work has always been driven by story: a person has a goal, encounters some obstacles, and (hopefully) succeeds. I have found that nature is story; although we often talk about nature in terms of science, politics, spirituality, and more, at heart there’s always a story. I have also found that stories are our nature; the human brain perceives the world through story. In this venue, I tell natural stories.

I publish one story per week, every Tuesday at 5pm Mountain time. Sometimes the stories are about historic figures; sometimes the protagonist is me. Sometimes the story is a vehicle for science, politics, spirituality, technology, art, economics, wilderness, or other subjects; sometimes it’s an argument that we should be telling more natural stories; but most of the time I’m aiming for the kind of good story I might tell you over a beer. I’m always interested in comments and reactions to the stories.

If you want more of me, at www.johnclaytonbooks.com you can learn about my books including Wonderlandscape, The Cowboy Girl, and Natural Rivals. The website also has links to hundreds of essays and articles, a full bio (Massachusetts, Williams College, business ghostwriting), and a schedule of upcoming events.

Natural Stories works on what I call a “public radio model”: the weekly essays and my entire archives are always free, but I’ll keep bugging you to support me. I work hard to write good essays, and subscription payments make that work possible. If you are able, I’d greatly appreciate you joining the ranks of paying subscribers.

What readers are saying

"What a brilliant idea. In a world surrounded by people and their stories, I’m looking forward to reading more about what people are or were surrounded by, maybe even before people came along." -Stephen K.

"John is one of the outstanding writers of stories related to the natural world, combining colorful human stories with insights regarding the ways we interact with wild places." -Don R.

“I appreciate your in-depth research and intriguing angles.” –John M.

“You reveal aspects of nature that I’ve never encountered before, and for more well-known aspects of nature, you have a unique perspective.” –Dave S.

Your stories are always thoughtful, well-written, and enjoyable to read, and I always learn something!” –Martha B.

"John Clayton is an insightful and entertaining writer. " -Jim S.