Brian Doyle was a dad, a dad, a dad, a husband, the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, a son, a brother, a friend, a citizen, a pro-basketball nut, and a writer, in that order. He lived in Portland, Oregon until his death in 2017.

Doyle’s books have four times been finalists for the Oregon Book Award, and his essays have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Orion, The American Scholar, and in newspapers and magazines around the world. His essays have also been reprinted in the annual Best American Essays, Best American Science & Nature Writing, and Best American Spiritual Writing anthologies. Among various honors for his work is a Catholic Book Award, two Pushcart Prizes, and, mysteriously, a 2008 Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.