Hush of the Land

I am a narrative nonfiction writer drawn to the quiet forces that shape lives and histories—resistance, memory, landscape, and moral clarity. My work moves across time and place, from 20th-century Europe to the American West, uncovering untold stories at the edge of collapse and transformation.

With a Ph.D. in political science, I bring human stories into conversation with archival research, historical context, and the natural world to explore how people remember, survive, and act when it matters most.

My current book projects include THE ARTISAN, a gripping true-crime biography of an overlooked Nazi resistance fighter who nearly assassinated Hitler, and BROTHER WILD, the story of twin brothers fighting for science, grizzly bears, and the last wild rivers.

I am the author of Hush of the Land (Bison 2024) and Writing Between the Lines, a Substack publication about migration, motherhood, and the deep imprint of place. Born in Germany, I live in Montana and was recently awarded the OpenAIR Writing Residency at Flathead Lake.

Sign-up for the HUSH OF THE LAND NEWSLETTER.

Contact

“Smoke Elser is a legend not only in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana but throughout the Rocky Mountain West. . . . Hush of the Land will be read for years by those who want a saddle-high view of a unique and adventurous life well lived.”

—C. J. Box, New York Times best-selling author of Storm Watch

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, HUSH OF THE LAND tells the captivating story of Smoke Elser’s early days as a packer in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Bitterroot Mountains. Share the joys and thrills of summer rides, harrowing grizzly bear encounters, fishing in clear mountain streams, and many nights around a campfire within some of the West’s last wild lands. In this lively narrative, Elser recounts how his testimony for the Wilderness Act, and the fight to preserve and expand Montana’s wilderness lands, influenced his career as an outfitter and educator and gave him a voice at the center of Montana’s conservation movement. Read more.

Order a signed book