Born in 1948 in Berkeley, California, the son of poet Jeanne McGahey and teacher/critic Lawrence Hart, John Hart grew up in an atmosphere of literary discussion and rigorous devotion to the writer’s craft.

Pursuing an interest in literary translation, Hart earned a BA in Comparative Literature (Princeton, 1970) but, encouraged by an early literary prize, chose to develop his career outside the academic world. His first verse volume, The Climbers, appeared in 1978 in the Pitt Poetry Series; his second, Storm Camp, is in circulation. Hart now works with poets and other writers in settings including the Lawrence Hart Seminars, which link back to a circle established by his father in 1936. He is an editor at the respected and durable “little” magazine Blue Unicorn, continuous since 1976.

Hart has supported himself, however, as a non-fiction writer with specialties in environmental affairs and wilderness travel. The tally so far includes three books with University of California Press, three more with Sierra Club Books, and several more with regional and specialist presses.  Focal points have been water policy, farmland conservation, land-use planning, and backpacking and climbing. His title Walking Softly in the Wilderness: The Sierra Club Guide to Backpacking, now in its fourth edition, is considered one of the basic texts in its field.

In 2004 he married Helen Schoenhals, an eminent psychoanalyst based in Frankfurt, Germany. He divides his time between California and Europe and between urban scenes and wild. He is an avid opera buff and an equally avid mountaineer; the climbing experience looms large in both his poetry and his prose.

His current major project, uniting several of his interests, is tentatively titled Rhine Journey. It is a book of essays loosely centered on the River Rhine but having as much to do with an American's experience of German culture and with the operas and influence of Richard Wagner.  On the literary side, he is assembling The Activist Anthology, a collection of works by the poets who developed under the influence of Lawrence Hart.

Member: American Alpine Club, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of Literary Scholars and Critics, Authors Guild, and various other literary and conservation organizations.

See also directories including Who's Who in America, Contemporary Authors, others.