EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Barry Lopez, an award-winning writer who tried to tighten the bonds between people and place by describing the landscapes he saw in 50 years of travel, has died. He was 75. Lopez died in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday after a years-long struggle with prostate cancer, his family said. Longtime friend Kim Stafford, former Oregon poet laureate, said Lopez’s books “are landmarks that define a region, a time, a cause. He also exemplifies a life of devotion to craft and learning, to being humble in the face of wisdom of all kinds.” An author of nearly 20 books on natural history studies, along with essay and short story collections, Lopez was awarded the National Book Award in 1986 for “Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape.” It was the result of almost five years of traveling the Arctic. His final work was “Horizon,” an autobiography that recalls a lifetime of travel in more than 70 countries.