A Vermonter, John D. Wagner is the award-winning author of many books on green building, construction, wood crafts, home building, the supply chain, and corporate management. He has also written more than 1,100 magazine articles about home building and commercial construction, among other topics. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Asian Wall Street Journal, Green Builder Magazine (which he co-founded and edited), Popular Science, LBM Journal, Newsday, Chicago Tribune, Fine Woodworking, The Journal of Light Construction, Tools of the Trade, and many other magazines and newspapers. His commentary has been heard on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.

He was associate editor and features editor for the Journal of Light Construction, and as a senior editor, he helped launch Tools of the Trade magazine. He was also senior editor Today’s Homeowner (a 900,000-circulation consumer magazine). As editor of the book Advanced Framing, John launched the Journal of Light Construction book division.

John was also co-founder of Green Builder Media, and founding editor-in-chief of Green Builder Magazine, the first national trade magazine focused on green practices for single-family home builders. (John resigned the position in Nov. 2006 and is no longer associated with the publication.) John also was on the launch team that created the TV show “Today’s Homeowner with Danny Lipford,” (John served as the host’s ghostwriter), which is broadcast nationally.

Among other current activities, John is the green editor/columnist for LBM Journal (40,000 circ.), the leading voice of the lumber and building material dealer community, and the green content contributor to the national Green Dealer Certification program, a web-based distance learning company that trains and certifies dealers for green building. John is also the green building columnist for Qualified Remodeler magazine (90,000 circ.), the green building columnist for Residential Design & Build magazine, and the green building columnist for Granite State Builder magazine. John’s most recent book is called Green Remodeling (Creative Homeowner Press) and it is available in all 1,800 Lowe’s stores and all 2,000 Home Depot stores.

Personal History

Born in 1957, and one of eight children, John’s personal journey has crossed continents and careers. In addition to being an expert on green building, John has won awards for his travel writing and his poetry, which he has published widely.

John holds a BA in medieval philosophy from St. Michael’s College (Vermont) and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama, where he attended on scholarship and graduated a year early with honors, including a Dean’s Scholarship and the Teaching Writing Fellowship.

John has traveled widely in India, Vietnam, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Lombok. He lived in Bangkok for a year in 1990-91. He has also traveled and/or lived in Mexico, France, and the Netherlands. Though his language skills come and go, he has spoken conversational French, Spanish, and Thai.

Other notable aspects of his personal history: In 2008, John climbed an 18,192 ft peak in the Himalayas (Mt. Kala Patar). In 1979, John scaled “The Nose” route of Yosemite’s El Capitan (the most continuously vertical face in North America). He has climbed inside the smoking calderas of two semi-active Indonesian volcanoes (Mt. Bromo and Mt. Batur) and booked a winter ascent of Mt. Washington, NH. John has canoed the Snake River and the Yukon River, where at the age of 16 he went to find evidence of his great-great uncle, Jerry O'Mahoney, who murdered a man during the Klondike Goldrush. John has also met the Dalai Lama twice, once during an audience in his compound in northern India.

John is married to Dr. Leita Hancock, and they have two darling boys, Asa and Micah.

Awards, Recognition, & Fellowships

* Teaching Writing Fellow, University of Alabama, recognizing the finest writer at the distinguish University of Alabama Master of Fine Arts program.

* Best Teacher Award, University of Alabama English Department, recognizing the best English professor at the University.

* Bread Loaf Waiters Fellowship, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, recognizing the 25 most promising young writers in America.

* Individual Fellowship: Creative Writing, Vermont Council on the Arts, recognizing just two of Vermont's best young writers each year.

* Special Merit Award, Non-Fiction, Vermont Book Publishers Association, for Building a Multi-Use Barn, my first book (Williamson Publishing).

* Featured Selection, Business Week, recognizing the nation's best business books, for The Interactive Marketplace (McGraw Hill).

* Independent Weekly's Poetry Prize, First Place, yearly recognizing the best poetry & poet in the Raleigh-Durham area.

* Vigil Honor, Order of the Arrow.

Teaching History

* Currently. Norwich Univ. Adjunct Instructor of Architecture, Norwich Univ. School of Architecture + Art, Northfield, VT. Courses taught: Graduate Seminar, Global Issue in Design and Building Materials.

* Guest Day-Lecturer (1999 & 2002): Kenan Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina; Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, and, NC State University’s MBA Program, Raleigh, NC.

* Suan Suannatah College in Bangkok, Thailand, (1989-90) taught as visiting faculty in the English Department. Courses taught included Introduction to English.

* Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, (1988) taught as an Assistant Professor in the English Department. Courses taught included Freshman Composition, Introduction of Literature, and Romantic Literature.

* St. Michael’s College, Colchester, VT, taught three years (1986-1988) as adjunct faculty in the English Department. Courses taught included Freshman Composition, Introduction of Literature, Romantic Literature, and History of the English Language. Also during this time, taught as an adjunct at Vermont Community College (State of Vermont system) and Burlington College (Burlington, VT).

* University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, taught three years (1983, 1984, 1985) as a graduate teaching assistant in the English Department. Courses taught included Freshman Composition, Introduction of Literature, Romantic Literature, and – as the Teaching Writing Fellow in 1985 – Creative Writing Workshop.