Douglas Wood, born December 10, 1951, in the United States, is an American singer, songwriter, and author whose early life was shaped by a strong educational background in music and psychology, having earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Morningside College and completed graduate coursework toward a master’s in psychology at St. Cloud State University. Wood’s musical career developed in the mid-1970s and 1980s, during which his early work featured 12-string guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and he later issued albums including Solitary Shores (1983) and Earthsongs (1989). In the following decade he continued recording and performing, collaborating with his band WildSpirit and appearing at venues that highlighted his nature-inspired themes. The early 1990s saw Wood’s crossover into literary circles, with Old Turtle (1992) achieving multiple awards, including the Minnesota Book Award and the International Reading Association Book of the Year award in 1993. His musical output continued with releases such as Deep Woods, Deep Waters (1997), while he expanded his catalogue of nature-focused writing. Throughout the 2000s Wood maintained a presence on the folk circuit, later issuing Alive & Pickin’ (2008), and performed a symphonic rendition of Old Turtle at Lincoln Center in 2011, solidifying his reputation as a multidisciplinary artist who consistently merged environmental advocacy with creative expression.
