The Ben East papers contain material dating from as early as 1935 and spanning the next 45 years of his career as an outdoorsman, writer, and conservationist with the bulk of the materials focusing on his career as an outdoor writer and editor. The collection is divided into five series: Editorial Copy, Personal Papers, Photographs, Publications, and Topical Files.
Ben East (1898-1990) grew up hunting and fishing on his family's farm outside of Holly, Michigan, but didn't began his career as an outdoor writer until his mid-20s when he began selling short stories to magazines and local newspapers such as the Detroit News. The quality of his freelance work led to a permanent, full-time position establishing and editing the outdoor page of the Grand Rapids Press in 1926. He spent the next twenty years working for the newspaper and became a well-known and well-respected writer and lecturer. In 1946 he was honored with the invitation to present a talk to the National Geographic Society.
East continued to write freelance magazine stories during his tenure at the Grand Rapids Press, and in 1946 he was invited to joint the editorial staff of Outdoor Life, a nationally distributed outdoors magazine. He worked as a writer, field editor, and senior field editor during the almost thirty years he was employed by the magazine. The bulk of East's editorial work involved creating monthly regional inserts to be included in Outdoor Life subscriptions sent to the Great Lakes states. These inserts gave localized accounts of where to find good hunting and fishing, as well as outlined environmental threats to local rivers, lakes, and forests.
Though East was a long-standing and well regarded editor, his true gift was as a writer. East wrote and ghostwrote hundreds of stories for Outdoor Life until, and even after, his retirement in 1972. He earned the nickname the 'dean of outdoor writers' in recognition of his long career and his commitment to mentoring the aspiring writers who worked under and with him. He not only gained the respect of other writers, but the entire sporting community. He worked closely with hunters and sportsmen across the country to capture their stories and publish them under their own names. Many of the stories in this collection are attributed to other writers, but were in fact authored by East. In addition to his magazine and newspaper writing, East authored a number of books, notably of adventure stories, though he also published a novel and The Ben East Hunting Book--a comprehensive how-to book.
Though Ben East is most remembered as a writer he was also an early and important conservationist. He was deeply committed to preserving Michigan's natural beauty and was instrumental in gaining State Park status for both Tahquamenon Falls and the Porcupine Mountains. He also played a major role in securing Isle Royale as a National Park. He was involved in a number of conservation organizations and won the Michigan United Conservation Clubs Conservation Award in 1971 as well the Michigan Environmental Award and formal recognition by the Michigan state legislature, both in 1973.
