Jarid Manos

Jarid Manos is an American writer and activist, and a leader in re-connecting people and the land through story and labor. He works inside the edges where violence, health, people and Earth meet. His first book, Ghetto Plainsman [Temba House Press, 2010], received a $34,500 Arcus Foundation literary award to mount the national “Sharing the Journey” Tour. His second book, Her Blue Watered Streets: An American Novel, is nearing completion. In January 2014, he launched the two-year blog story Fear & Loving: Where the Ocean Meets the Streets, an online serial based in Florida and Texas relating urban life facing impending climate change.

Jarid is the Founder & CEO of the Great Plains Restoration Council (GPRC), based in Houston and Fort Worth, TX. Through tough, hands-on advocacy and nature-based work therapy, such as its programs Plains Youth InterACTION, Restoration Not Incarceration™, and Your Health Outdoors, GPRC has helped save the endangered Fort Worth Prairie Park, created Esteban Park in Houston, reintroduced a wild prairie dog ecosystem in Santa Fe County, NM, and more. In 2011, he was appointed to the Relevancy Committee by the Obama Administration, which through the National Park Service, worked to better connect diverse communities and National Parks with each other.

Jarid is a featured guest speaker at universities, jails, churches (and other places of faith), organizations, events, conferences, businesses, chambers of commerce, and schools nationwide. He has also has been featured internationally in broadcast, print and online media.