Don Lessem

""Dino Don" Lessem"" (born 1951) 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, Giganotasaurus, 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 (Biobehavioral Studies Post-Graduate Concentration, U. Mass/Boston 1978) and Asian Art History (B.A., Brandeis University, 1973), 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.

Mr. Lessem was advisor to the Jurassic Park film and theme park attraction, and to Disney's Dinosaur film and Animal Kingdom theme park. He has written and hosted Discovery Channel and NOVA documentaries on dinosaurs and is a television and radio commentator on dinosaur discoveries.

Mr. Lessem's exhibition company, Exhibits Rex, Inc. has created several of the largest and most popular traveling museum exhibitions of dinosaurs, including Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and Chinasaurs and an exhibition of the treasures of Genghis Khan.

Another of Mr. Lessem's companies, DKV Sponsorship, Inc. holds the sponsorship rights to the principal entry to the Great Wall of China.

As "Dino" Don, Mr. Lessem has authored children's books on dinosaurs, extinct animals, endangered species, the Amazonian rainforest and the "Iceman" mummy. Via his monthly column in Highlights Magazine, "Dino" Don has answered more than 10,000 children's letters. He created the children's non-profit newspaper Dino Times (1981 to 1984). A special edition of 1.3 million copies of Dino Times was distributed at the opening of the Jurassic Park film at the behest of Universal Studios.

Mr. Lessem is also the author of several humor books including: Aerphobics, Death by Roller Disco, How to Flatten Your Nose, and The Worst of Everything. His humor essays have appeared in Punch and The Atlantic Monthly.

The most recent of Mr. Lessem's projects is the creation of EarthQuest, a 1,500 acre, 1 billion-dollar Houston-area based sustainability research and education center, prototype "green" residential community, and leisure destination projected to open in 2010.

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