Mike's enticing narrative about the backwoods writer's camp conjured memories of Dick Proenneke, who, if you have not heard of him, lived several years alone in the Alaskan wilderness of the Twin Lakes area. Proenneke was a true outdoorsman--he hand built his own cabin, grew and hunted his own food. He was a meticulous chronicler of his experiences which became a book and then a documentary both titled _Alone In the Wilderness_ (available for purchase on Amazon, PBS, and elsewhere). His life appears quite idyllic on film, but how he endured such solitude I cannot comprehend. You can get an idea of his experiences from this YouTube clip of _Alone..._. The voiceover is not Proenneke but he is the man appearing in the footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfB6oJ55wM
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3 comments:
I've seen Proeneke's film - in fact I was trying to explain it to Mike and Kent. Thanks!
Hats off to that guy. I think this movie is the one Sean Penn was trying to make, but he made Into the Wild by mistake.
Proeneke's film is great. I caught on PBS last year some time. But I also liked Into the Wild, especially the music and landscape shots.
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