Cheryl Strayed was born in 1964 in Pennsylvania. In 1986, at the age of 17, she graduated from High School, where she was a track and cross country runner and cheerleader.
For several years, thousands turned to Cheryl, a then-anonymous internet Agony Aunt, but unlike most Agony Aunts, this one’s advice was spun from genuine compassion and was informed by a wealth of personal experience – experience that was sometimes tragic and sometimes tender, often hilarious and often heart breaking. Having successfully battled her own demons whilst hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed sat down to answer the letters of the frightened, the anxious, the confused and with each gem-like correspondence, she proved to be the perfect guide for those who had got a little lost in life. She is also a public speaker and often gives lectures about her life and books and is a long-time feminist activist.
Cheryl’s work has appeared in numerous magazines and journals in America, including The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Allure and The Rumpus. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two children.
Brave Enough – Nov 2015
Across the world, millions of people have found life and depth in the words of Cheryl Strayed. Whether it has been in her bestselling memoir Wild or in her collection of advice on love and life, Tiny Beautiful Things, she has been a companion to those who feel alone, a balm to those who hurt, a co-conspirator to those who laugh, and a steel-toecapped boot to those who need tough love. In this courageous and glittering collection of quotes and thoughts, Cheryl Strayed shows that no matter how much life might get you down, words can have the power to pick you back up.
Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found – Jan 2015
At twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s rapid death from cancer, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise – a promise of piecing together a life that lay shattered at her feet…
The movie adaptation of Wild was released in January 2015. The film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and stars BAFTA-nominated Reese Witherspoon, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby.
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Someone Who’s Been There – May 2013
Life can be hard: your lover cheats on you, you lose a family member and you can’t pay the bills, but it can be pretty great, too. You’ve had the hottest sex of your life, you get that plum job and you muster the courage to write your novel. Everyday across the world, people go through the full and glorious gamut of life – but sometimes, a little advice is needed.