Jon Krakauer

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Study: McCandless May Have Been a Victim of Bad Timing

Researchers: River he tried, failed to cross may have been passable a day before, after

(Newser) - A study on the hydrology of Alaska's Teklanika River in the summer of 1992 might seem like a subject that would have limited appeal—were it not for the young man who tried and failed to cross it. That would be Christopher McCandless, whose death that year in the...

Into the Wild Bus Airlifted Out of the Wild

Bus where Christopher McCandless died no longer in the Alaska wilderness

(Newser) - An abandoned bus in the Alaska backcountry, popularized by the book Into the Wild and the movie of the same name, was removed Thursday, state officials said. The decision prioritizes public safety, Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said. The bus has long attracted adventurers to an area without cellphone...

Man Nearing Execution by Firing Squad Has Died

Ron Lafferty's murder case was featured in Jon Krakauer's 'Under the Banner of Heaven'

(Newser) - A Utah death-row inmate whose double-murder case was featured in the book Under the Banner of Heaven and who was nearing execution by firing squad has died of natural causes, prison officials said Monday. Ron Lafferty, 78, died at the state prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper,...

They Were on Their Way to a Famous Bus. Suddenly, a Slip

Newlywed swept away trying to cross Alaskan river near bus depicted in Jon Krakauer's 'Into the Wild'

(Newser) - A trek in Alaska to see the "Magic Bus" ended in tragedy this week for a newly married couple from Belarus—both the same age as the man who famously died at the bus site. The Anchorage Daily News reports that 24-year-old Veramika Maikamava and Piotr Markielau, who Alaska...

'Into Thin Air' Survivor Dies in Apparent Home Accident

Charlotte Fox was a top female climber

(Newser) - Charlotte Fox, who survived a harrowing storm on Mount Everest in 1996 famously chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, has died after an apparent fall in her home. Friends of the 61-year-old climber found her on the floor and believe she slipped on the hardwood stairs of her...

Into the Wild Author Revises McCandless Death Theory

Jon Krakauer thinks he's identified the lethal toxic compound in potato seeds

(Newser) - So what specifically killed Into the Wild subject Christopher McCandless in the Alaskan wilderness back in 1992? In 2013 , author Jon Krakauer blamed toxic seeds from the Eskimo potato plant. After the theory met with skepticism from scientists and non-scientists alike, Krakauer investigated further. His new conclusion: It was indeed...

Krakauer Book on Campus Rape Rocks Mont. Town

'Missoula' scrutinizes sexual assaults at university and how victims were treated

(Newser) - Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, has a new book out today, and there's one town in particular that's been steeling itself for its release for months. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town stays true to its title,...

Mountaineer Had Premonition of Everest Disaster —in 2012

Jon Krakauer looks at the imbalanced danger Sherpas face

(Newser) - Jon Krakauer takes to the pages of the New Yorker to weigh in on the latest tragedy on Everest (the author was, of course, part of the 1996 disaster that saw eight climbers killed). His piece makes plain the imbalance between the dangers faced by Sherpas and the climbers they...

Into the Wild Author: This Is What Killed McCandless
Into the Wild Author: This
Is What Killed McCandless
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Into the Wild Author: This Is What Killed McCandless

Mystery solved after 21 years, says Jon Krakauer

(Newser) - It's a question that has nagged Jon Krakauer and readers for some 20 years: What truly killed Christopher McCandless? McCandless, you'll recall, is the 24-year-old who perished in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992, and the subject of Krakauer's Into the Wild. The coroner listed cause of death...

Woman Drowns on Way to Into the Wild Bus

29-year-old traveling to see vehicle from book and movie

(Newser) - Another tragic ending gets looped into an already tragic story: A Swiss woman drowned Saturday while trying to cross a swollen river on the way to the abandoned bus made famous by Jon Krakauer's book (and the resulting movie), Into the Wild. Alaska state troopers say Claire Jane Ackerman, 29,...

McChrystal Lied About Tillman's Death: Krakauer

New book draws attention to general's role in cover-up

(Newser) - A new book is dredging up some uncomfortable history for Stanley McChrystal at an inconvenient time. Just as the general's credibility is on the line in Afghanistan, Jon Krakauer’s paints McChrystal as the central figure in the cover-up of Pat Tillman’s friendly fire death. McChrystal says he made...

It's a Busy Fall for Books
 It's a Busy Fall for Books 

It's a Busy Fall for Books

Dave Eggers, Philip Roth, Jon Krakauer have new titles out

(Newser) - Hoping to salvage a miserable year, publishers are flooding the fall season with more hot tickets than normal. Some samples, from the Wall Street Journal:
  • Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol, Sept. 1: The next in a series from the Da Vinci Code writer.
  • Nicholson Baker, The Anthologist, Sept. 8: A
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12 Stories