Guests: Episodes with Dan Flores

Born on October 19, 1948, Dan Louie Flores is a renowned American author and historian with a focus on the cultural and environmental aspects of the American West. Until his retirement in May 2014, he occupied the prestigious A.B. Hammond Chair in Western History at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.

Residing in the picturesque Galisteo Valley near Santa Fe, New Mexico, Flores boasts an impressive academic background.

Hailing from Vivian in northwestern Louisiana’s Caddo Parish, he grew up in the neighboring town of Rodessa. During the 1970s, he earned his MA in History from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. In 1978, he completed his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, under the tutelage of esteemed Professor Herbert H. Lang. Flores’ illustrious academic journey began at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where he taught from 1978 to 1992. He also spent a year at the University of Wyoming in 1986 before moving to the University of Montana. There, he held the A.B. Hammond Chair in Western History from 1992 until his retirement in May 2014.

Throughout his career, Flores has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including:

Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize, 2017, Winner, for American Serengeti
Society of American Historians Member, elected 2017
2017 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award Winner for Coyote America
Best Non-Fiction Book, 2017 Wrangler Award Winner, Western Heritage Association and National Cowboy Museum, for American Serengeti
PEN 2017 E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist for Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History
Best Western Historical Non-Fiction, 2017, Finalist, Western Writers of America Spur Award, for American Serengeti
Flores’ work, Wild New World, has been hailed as “An outstanding addition to the literature on the ecological history of America.” His book Coyote America garnered praise from Publisher’s Weekly for its “mix of edification and entertainment,” which serves as “a welcome antidote to a creature so often viewed with fear.” Thomas Andrews recognizes “Flores’s longstanding expertise in the environmental history of the American West” and commends his “boundless respect, thoughtfulness, and good humor” in penning Coyote America. Historian Elliott West describes Flores as “one of the most respected environmental historians of his generation,” and William Kittredge concurs, asserting that Flores is among “the ranks of first-string Western American writers.” Flores’ work has been described as “engaging and provocative,” “personal, passionate, and scholarly.” Author William deBuys lauds Horizontal Yellow as “one of the best books about place you’ll ever read.”

The extensive archives, research papers, and photographs of Dan Flores are preserved in the Conservation Collection of the Western History and Genealogy Division at the Denver Public Library.