Don Lessem

Who is Don Lessem?

"Dino Don" Lessem is a writer of more than 50 Popular Science books who specializes in dinosaurs. His works include many children's books on Dinosaurs. He was the founder of the Dinosaur Society and the Jurassic Foundation, which have raised millions for dinosaur research. In recognition of these efforts, the Prosauropod dinosaur Lessemsaurus is named after him.

Mr. Lessem is responsible for reconstructing the skeleton of the world's largest dinosaur, the 100-ton, 120-foot-long Argentinosaurus and the world's largest meat-eater, Giganotosaurus, also from Argentina, which is 20% larger than T. rex. Mr. Lessem sponsors and participates in dinosaur excavations primarily in Mongolia, China and Argentina.

Schooled in primatology and Asian Art History, Mr. Lessem began his writing career as a researcher for the Smithsonian Center for Short-Lived Phenomena. For more than a decade he was a science journalist specializing in conservation issues for the Boston Globe and a contributor to Life, The New York Times, and Smithsonian Magazine.

Lessem's professional interest in dinosaurs developed while a Knight Journalism Fellow at M.I.T. in 1988. He wrote his first book, Kings of Creation, surveying current dinosaur research worldwide, in 1990.