Priit Juho Vesilind (4 January 1943 – 3 November 2023) was an Estonian-born American senior writer and photojournalist of National Geographic magazine and an author of nonfiction.

[2][3] Left behind in Estonia, Paul Eduard Vesilind later traveled by ship to Danzig and rejoined his wife and children in Czechoslovakia.

From there they made their way along railway tracks westward across southern Germany, carrying Priit in a wheelbarrow, subsisting on dried bread, taking cover from Allied air attacks on the German railroads, and sheltering in the haylofts of barns.

[2][3] In September 1949, sponsored by a Lutheran church, the family emigrated to the United States, settling in Beaver, a small town in Western Pennsylvania where he spent his childhood.

[3] Vesilind's career at National Geographic spanned more than thirty years and he rose to the position of the magazine's adventure and expeditions editor and senior writer, and he served as its European specialist.

He recounted his trip in an April 1980 National Geographic article titled "Return to Estonia" that captured the desire of Estonians to be independent once more.

"[7] After leaving National Geographic, Vesilind worked as a freelance editor, writer, and photographer, living with his wife Rima in Manassas, Virginia, United States.