Alan Gordon was born and raised in a post-World War II baby-boomer suburb in New Jersey across the Hudson, 25 miles and a world away, from Manhattan. At 18 he left for University in Atlanta, followed by law school in San Francisco, returning to Georgia to practice law. After a miserable five years in solo practice and then with a small litigation firm in Atlanta he escaped back to California, a place he quickly came to call home.

Upon his return to the Golden State he taught high school in Oakland for a year before landing a job at the State Capitol in Sacramento. Over his lengthy career in government he worked in the State Senate in various policy positions. In the legislature he focused on environmental policy and also spent time working on issues as varied as insurance reform, police accountability, construction defect liability, cruise ship immunity, and small claims court reform. He specialized in water policy and was the principal staff author of a years-long rewrite of California water law.

In addition to his work in the State Senate, he served as an appointed deputy at the California Environmental Protection  Agency, The Governor’s Office of Inspector General, and The State Controller’s Office, where he acted as the Controller’s designee as chair to the State Lands Commission. He left state service in 2017 as Deputy Treasurer for Environmental Finance in the Office of the State Treasurer, taking a consulting position with an NGO based in London focusing on the emerging green debt market.

For 25 years, he shared his expertise by teaching Environmental Policy at the University of California, Davis.

An avid adventurer, he has spent many years rafting and guiding whitewater adventures across the western United States. His love for travel has taken him across Europe and Latin America, and he has visited 49 American states.  Alan is also a prolific photographer and has extensively chronicled his journeys across the US, Latin America, and Europe in pictures (a selection of which can be seen here on this site).

Previously divorced and the father of two adult children, the author is remarried and still resides in Sacramento. 

Upon retirement, inspired by his rich experiences and profound love of nature, he decided to channel his passion into writing. His book series Greed, Gringos and the Wrath of the Gods: A National Origin Story (Volumes I: Queen Califia Comes Home and Volume II: The United States of the Pacific), delves into the intricacies of environmental policy, personal anecdotes from his adventurous travels, and the deep connections between nature and humanity.