David Roberts

David Stuart Roberts (May 29, 1943 – August 20, 2021) was an American climber, mountaineer, college professor, and author of books and articles about climbing and the history of the American Southwest. He was particularly noted for his books The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah: A Wilderness Narrative, chronicling major ascents in Alaska in the 1960s, which had a major impact on the form of mountaineering literature.

Early life and climbing in Alaska Roberts was born in Denver, Colorado, on May 29, 1943. His father, Walter Orr Roberts, was an astronomer and scientist who headed the Harvard College Observatory in nearby Boulder; his mother, Janet Naomi Smock Roberts, was elected to its city council. Roberts attended Boulder High School, before studying mathematics at Harvard University, graduating in 1965. He was a member of and former president of the Harvard Mountaineering Club where he led exploratory first ascents of many peaks in Alaska. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in English from the University of Denver in 1970.

Career Roberts was a professor of literature at Hampshire College, in Amherst, Massachusetts, from 1970 to 1979. He also designed the college's Outdoors Program. He ultimately authored 32 books on the subject, as well as the celebrated adventures of historical figures. These included books on the Ancestral Puebloans and a biography on Jean Stafford. Prix Mediterrane Prix du Salon de Livre de Passy 2003 Grand Prize at Banff Mountain Book Festival, Escape from Lucania 2001 National Geographic Adventure ranked The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah among the 100 best adventure books ever written