One Man's Wilderness, 50th Anniversary Edition

Richard Proenneke retired from his job as an operator and mechanic at age fifty to live the next thirty years of his life in the wilds of Twin Lakes, Alaska. There he built a cabin, hunted and gathered his own food, educated himself as a naturalist, and recorded his activities and findings in journals and on film. His time was later made into the 2003 PBS documentary Alone in the Wilderness and written in the book One Man’s Wilderness, published in 1973 by his friend Sam Keith. Proenneke returned to civilization in 1999 and died at the age of 82 in 2003 in Hemet, California. Sam Keith met Richard Proenneke in 1952 at the Kodiak Naval Base in Alaska, where the two became friends exploring the Kodiak and Afognak Islands together. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in English, with aspirations to become a writer. His 1973 book One Man’s Wilderness became a bestseller and has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. Keith died in 2003. Nick Offerman is an actor, author, comedian and woodworker who is known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. He co-hosts the crafting show Making It with Amy Poehler, and heads Offerman Workshop, a collective of woodworkers and makers in Los Angeles.

"Richard Proenneke, an emigre from Iowa to Alaska, kept a journal during the time he was fulfilling his dream of living in an altogether undeveloped part of Alaska. Parts of the journal have been made into a book by Sam Keith, along with colored photos that prove Alaska is certainly one of, if not the, most beautiful places anywhere."

1. 4/5

   Fantastisk bok om hur ensamlivet i vildmarken är

   Härligt att läsa Dick Proenneke's dagboksanteckningar. Har du vandrat i vildmark, fjäll eller på annat sätt hikat runt med tält och lagat din egen mat kan du till viss del leva dig in i Dicks upplevelser. En härlig bok väl värd att läsa för den naturintresserade. Ibland blir det lite långtradigt i dagboksanteckningarna, men visst ensam ute i Alaskas vildmark är tempot ett annat och Dicks beskrivningar av hur bygget av stugan och förrådet går till intresserade inte mig så mkt, men det gav en djup förståelse hur mkt jobb och tanke det ändå är att bygga upp ett hus i vildmarken med handverktyg utan all tänkbar maskinell hjälp.

   Lars

   27 september 2019