Dick Russell has focused most of his magazine writing and personal activism over the past twenty years on the environment—particularly the crises impacting the world’s fisheries and oceans. A longtime sports fisherman, Russell spent the better part of three years fighting for stronger regulations to protect the endangered Atlantic striped bass. He organized a national conference in Washington, D.C., and appeared on numerous radio and television programs. For his efforts, he was awarded the Chevron Conservation Award in 1988.

Today, the return of the striped bass is considered the foremost example of the resiliency of the oceans—provided a species is given a chance to recover. His book Striper Wars (Island Press, 2005) movingly describes the struggle to save the bass and the battles it faces in the future.
 
Russell is the author of the book Eye of the Whale, which was named a Best Book of 2001 by The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In it he follows the migration of the California gray whale from Mexico’s Baja peninsula all the way to northern Alaska and Siberia. Richard Ellis wrote in The Los Angeles Times that this book “will change the way you think about the natural world.”

Russell has written dozens of articles about other environmental issues for publications ranging from The Nation to Parenting, and served for eighteen years as a Contributing Editor for OnEarth (formerly Amicus Journal), the award-winning quarterly publication of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He has been awarded the National Coalition for Marine Conservation’s Golden Swordfish Award and is an active member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and PEN USA.

He has published two other widely acclaimed books, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Black Genius: And the American Experience.  Before turning his attentions to the environment, Russell was on the staffs of Sports Illustrated and TV Guide. His free-lance articles have appeared in numerous publications, from Family Health to The Village Voice, he has been a guest on many national TV and radio programs, including “Good Morning America” and “NBC Nightly News,” and has lectured widely.