Dietrich was born and raised in Tacoma , Washington , and attended Fairhaven College at Western Washington University , graduating with a degree in journalism . He worked for several Pacific Northwest newspapers and Gannett News Service . While at '' The Seattle Times '' , he covered the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill , and shared the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting with three other '' Times '' journalists . He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University ( 1987 – 88 ) and won National Science Foundation fellowships to Antarctica in 1994 and 1996 . He reported extensively on science and the environment . His first book , '' The Final Forest '' , depicted the old growth and spotted owl battle in Forks , Washington . The book won the Washington Governor Writer 's Award and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award . He wrote a book on the Columbia River , '' Northwest Passage '' , a book on Northwest plants and animals , '' Natural Grace '' , and did the text for a pictorial book by photographer Art Wolfe , '' On Puget Sound ''
Exxon Valdez oil spill
Exxon Valdez oil spill
William Dietrich (novelist)