John Soares's Biography

I grew up in rural northern California just outside of Redding, which fired my love of the outdoors. I spent much of my teens and 20s backpacking in local mountains and exploring Europe and the Middle East, taking a bit of time along the way to complete a B.S. in biochem and a M.A.  in polisci, both from UC Davis. I’ve written two hiking guides for The Mountaineers Books: 100 Classic Hikes in Northern California and 75 Hikes in California’s Mount Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Park Regions. I’ve focused much of my professional career on writing for college textbook publishers, including Thinking Globally, Acting Locally, and What Can You Do? for Cengage Learning/Wadsworth. I live with my partner Stephanie near Mount Shasta in northern California. I do tai chi every day and love to write haiku and other short poems.