Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer was born in 1954 in Corvallis, Oregon. In Oregon his father introduced him to mountaineering at age 8. Krakauer graduated from Hampshire college in 1976 and decided to travel. He went to Alaska, Colorado and the Pacific North earning his living as a carpenter or a salmon fisher and spending all of his free time in the mountains. In 1977 he decided to go the remote Stikine Icecap in Southeast Alaska. In Alaska he did not come in contact with anybody for 3 weeks! Krakauer was an extremely adventurous person and loved climbing mountains. In 1999 Krakauer recieved an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  According to them "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."

"Jon Krakauer." Random House - Bringing You the Best in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children's Books. Web. 08 Feb. 2011.