Jon Krakauer Author of Into the Wild (He’s not really as creepy as this picture makes him look….) Jon Krakauer Author of Into the Wild

Early Life Born in 1954 Grew up in Corvallis, Oregon Father introduced him to mountaineering as an 8-year-old So he was very passionate about the outdoors from a very young age. Graduated from Hampshire College in 1976

Krakauer: Post-College After college he traveled around Colorado, Alaska, & the Pacific Northwest Worked primarily as a carpenter and commercial salmon fisherman Spent all his free time outdoors

ADVENTURES 1977  Traveled alone to the remote Stikine Icecap in Southeast Alaska Went three weeks without encountering another person Climbed a new route on an intimidating peak called the Devil’s Thumb Devil’s Thumb

ADVENTURES (cont.) 1992  Climbed the West Face of Cerro Torre in the Patagonian Andes A mile-high spike of granite, Cerro Torre was once considered the most difficult mountain on earth May 1996  Climbed Mt. Everest A snow storm hit during his team’s descent from the summit, killing 4 of his 5 teammates Wrote Into Thin Air about his experience

Krakauer quotation regarding the Everest tragedy of 1996: “Short form media is reductionist by nature. Television especially, but magazines, too, including mine, distilled it down to "Here's the good guys, here's the bad guys." And TV tried to say, "Here's this tragedy that didn't have to happen," and "Who's to blame?" It's so much more complicated than that” (Weissman).

Other Publications Has been published in: #1 New York Times Bestseller Outside Rolling Stone TIME The New York Times National Geographic Many others… #1 New York Times Bestseller 1998 Pulitzer Prize

Other Honors and Awards 1996 - New York Times bestseller 1997 - National Magazine Award 1997 - Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism from the American Geophysical Union 1999 - Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Charity Involvement 1998 - Everest '96 Memorial Fund at the Boulder Community Foundation Board member of the American Himalayan Foundation Board member of the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation

Into the Wild National Bestseller About the adventures of 23-year old Chris McCandless. Many of Krakauer’s own stories are interweaved throughout the book. Interview with Krakauer Interview with Oprah

Krakauer states, “To spend a year or two and tell a story right is really satisfying and after doing that it’s hard to go back and write magazine articles.”