Wendell Berry dies at 92

Wendell Berry, the Kentucky novelist, poet, essayist and farmer who championed small family farms and railed against agribusiness, died at 92. Berry won widespread acclaim for work that fused literary craft with environmental and agrarian advocacy, including the poem "The Peace of Wild Things," first published in 1968, and essays such as "The Pleasures of Eating." Colleagues and public figures responded with tributes naming his moral clarity and insistence on living his values; Bill McKibben and actor Nick Offerman appeared among those praising Berry in recent posts. Writers recalled Berry’s long handwritten correspondence with readers and his influence on movements for land stewardship and local agriculture. Reporters seeking context reached his family; one journalist said they spoke with his daughter Mary while reporting recently. The announcements have prompted widespread remembrances in literary and conservation circles and renewed attention to Berry’s critique of modern farming and community life.