Jon Krakauer

Infobox Writer
name = Jon Krakauer
birthdate = birth date and age|1954|4|12
birthplace = Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Writer and Mountain Climber
genre = Non fiction
movement =
debut_works = Into the Wild
footnotes =

Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954) is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing.

Early life

Krakauer was born in Brookline, Massachusetts as the third of five children and was raised in Corvallis, Oregon from the age of two. He competed in basketball at Corvallis High School and graduated in 1972. He went on to study at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, where in 1976 he received his degree in Environmental Studies. In 1977, he met former climber Linda Mariam Moore; they married in 1980 and now live in Seattle, Washington.

Mountaineering

One year after graduating from college (1979), he spent three weeks by himself in the wilderness of the Stikine Icecap region of Alaska and climbed a new route on the Devils Thumb, an experience he described in "Eiger Dreams" and in "Into the Wild. " In 1992, he made his way to Cerro Torre in the Andes of Argentine Patagonia -- a sheer, jagged granite peak more typical of those found in the Himalayas or Pacific Rim and considered to be one of the most difficult technical climbs in the world.

Krakauer's most recognized climb was a guided ascent of Mount Everest that became known as the 1996 Everest Disaster. Soon after summitting the peak, Krakauer's team met with disaster as four of five teammates (including group leader Rob Hall) perished while making their descent in the middle of a storm. A candid recollection of the event was published in "Outside" and eventually "Into Thin Air". By the end of the climbing season, fifteen people died trying to reach the summit, making it the deadliest single year in Everest history. Krakauer publicly criticized the commercialization of Mt. Everest following this tragedy.

Magazine contributions

Much of Krakauer's popularity as a writer came from being a journalist for "Outside" magazine. In November 1983, he was able to abandon part-time work as a fisherman and a carpenter to become a full-time writer. His freelance writing involved great variety, in addition to his many works involving mountain climbing. His writing has also appeared in "Smithsonian", "National Geographic Magazine", "Rolling Stone", "Playboy", and "Architectural Digest".

On assignment from "Outside", Krakauer wrote an article focusing on two parties during his ascent of Mt Everest: the one he was in, led by Rob Hall, and the one led by Scott Fischer, both of which successfully guided clients to the summit but experienced severe difficulty during the descent. The storm, and, in his estimation, irresponsible choices by guides of both parties, led to a number of deaths, including both head guides. Krakauer received much criticism from other climbers due to his personal account of the Everest climb.Fact|date=June 2008 Some climbers on the expedition did not view the disaster in the same light as Krakauer presented it in his magazine article.Who?Fact|date=June 2008 Additionally, Krakauer did not feel his article accurately covered the entire event in only one short account and clarified his initial mistakes, especially regarding the death of Andy Harris, in his later book after extensive interviews with survivors.

Books

The bestseller "Into the Wild" was published in 1996 and secured Krakauer's reputation as an outstanding adventure writer, spending more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list. The book tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man from a well-to-do East Coast family who, after graduating from college, donated all of the money in his bank account to charity, changed his name to "Alexander Supertramp," and began a journey in the American West. Nearly two years later, McCandless was found dead in the Alaska wilderness. In the book, Krakauer draws parallels between his own experiences and motivations and those of McCandless. Krakauer also recounts the story of Everett Ruess, a young artist and wanderer who disappeared in the Utah desert in 1934 at age 20. "Into The Wild" has been adapted for film (director Sean Penn) and was released on September 21, 2007.

In 1997, he expanded his September 1996 "Outside" article into his best known work, "Into Thin Air", describing those parties' experiences and the general state of Everest mountaineering at the time. It reached first place on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list, was honored as "Book of the Year" by Time magazine, and was among the final three books considered for the General Non-Fiction Pulitzer Prize in 1998. As a result of his writings on the lure of the outdoors, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1999. In the TV-movie version of the book, Krakauer was played by Christopher McDonald. Krakauer has contributed royalties from "Into Thin Air" to the Everest '96 Memorial Fund at the Boulder Community Foundation, which he founded as a tribute to his deceased climbing partners.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters rewarded Krakauer's journalism with the Academy Award in Literature in 1999: "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."

In 2003, "" became Krakauer's third non-fiction bestseller. The book examines extremes of religious belief, particularly fundamentalist offshoots of Mormonism. Specifically, Krakauer looks at the practice of polygamy among fundamentalist Mormons and places it in the context of the history of the Mormon religion as a whole. Much of the focus of the book is on the Lafferty brothers, who murdered in the name of their fundamentalist faith.

As of 2004, he also edits the Exploration series of the Modern Library.

In 2006, Tom Elliott and Pawel Gula produced the documentary, " [http://www.damnedtoheaven.com Damned to Heaven] ", inspired by the book, "Under the Banner of Heaven".

In the 2007 season premiere of "Iconoclasts" on the Sundance Channel, Jon Krakauer mentions being deeply embroiled in the writing of a new book, but does not reveal the title, subject, or expected date of completion. The episode itself was filmed sometime after the filming of "Into The Wild" was completed, as Jon Krakauer and Sean Penn journey together to the bus inhabited by Christopher McCandless discussing the filming of his story and the effect it has had on them.

It has since been announced that Krakauer's new book, " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385522266 The Hero] ", will be released by publisher Doubleday on October 14, 2008. (The Hero was indefinitely postponed by the author - see Publisher's Weekly 24 Jun 2008) "The Hero" will be about former NFL football player Pat Tillman, who enlisted in the US Army after 9/11 to become an Army Ranger and was eventually killed in action under suspicious circumstances in Afghanistan. In addition to performing research in Afghanistan, Krakauer was able to interview members of Tillman's family and read Tillman's diaries and letters, to prepare for writing the book. Doubleday's David Drake says Krakauer's interest in Tillman reflects "the fascination he has with extreme people, who push themselves to the very limits of their capabilities".

Krakauer's Tillman Book WithdrawnBy Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 6/24/2008 11:51:00 AMThose anticipating Jon Krakauer's meditation on the nature of heroism, examined through the story of Pat Tillman, the former football star killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire, may have to wait quite a bit longer than they planned. According to Doubleday, which had The Hero scheduled for October (and planned go to press with a hefty 500,000-first-printing), Krakauer has withdrawn the title.

Krakauer is apparently unhappy with the manuscript and is holding onto it indefinitely. David Drake at Doubleday confirmed that the decision was entirely the author's and that, while the imprint is "disappointed," it supports its author. Speaking to the book's future, Drake said the situation is "a little bit wait and see" and that if the book does get rescheduled it likely wouldn't come out until at least 2009.

Criticism of Krakauer

On "Into Thin Air"

Yoichi Shimatsu, a former Japanese journalist, shot a 30-minute documentary, "Prayer Flags", in response to the 1996 Everest Disaster recounted in Krakauer's "Into Thin Air". In this rebuttal, Shimatsu addresses the critical remarks made about Taiwanese team leader, Makalu Ming-Ho Gau, as well as the (alleged) influence of diplomatic and commercial pressure on the Nepalese government leading to an excessive number of teams receiving semi- or illegal permits and the (alleged) abdication of duty by several Sherpas. [cite web | title = Everest tragedy survivor fights to clear his name | work = chinapeaks.com| url=http://en.chinapeaks.com/main/index.php | accessdate = 2007-09-18 ]

In his own book "The Climb", Scott Fischer's top guide on the ill-fated 1996 Everest expedition, the late Anatoli Boukreev, quotes another climber as having witnessed an exhausted, oxygen-starved Krakauer collapse and nearly tumble off the mountain to his death in an unroped section between the Hillary Step and the South Summit. Krakauer did not mention this incident in his book. In addition, Boukreev claims that Krakauer made a number of key observational mistakes up high, among them mistaking climber Martin Adams for Andy Harris and subsequently communicating to Base Camp that Harris had safely returned to high camp when he had not (Harris was similarly confused, and incorrectly believed his group's stashed oxygen tanks on the South Summit were empty). However, Krakauer admits to and thoroughly discusses his mistake in his book.

On "Under the Banner of Heaven"

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has objected to his work "Under the Banner of Heaven" declaring "This book is not history, and Krakauer is no historian. He is a storyteller who cuts corners to make the story sound good. His basic thesis appears to be that people who are religious are irrational, and that irrational people do strange things." The LDS Church provided "Boston Globe", "Wall Street Journal" and "Christian Science Monitor" reviews of the book that described it as "misleading" or worse.cite web |url=http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/church-response-to-jon-krakauer-s-under-the-banner-of-heaven |title=Excerpts from reviews of Under the Banner of Heaven |work=Newsroom |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |accessdate=2006-05-31 |curly=true]

In response, Krakauer criticized the LDS Church, citing the opinion of historian D. Michael Quinn, an ex-communicated member of the church, who wrote, "The tragic reality is that there have been occasions when Church leaders, teachers, and writers have not told the truth they knew about difficulties of the Mormon past, but have offered to the Saints instead a mixture of platitudes, half-truths, omissions, and plausible denials." Krakauer wrote, "I happen to share Dr. Quinn's perspective."cite web |last=Krakauer |first=Jon |date=2003-07-03 |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/krakauer/response.html |title=A Response from the Author |accessdate=2006-05-31 |curly=true]

Selected bibliography

* "" (1990) ISBN 0-385-48818-1
* "Into the Wild" (1996) ISBN 0-385-48680-4
* "Into Thin Air" (1997) ISBN 0-385-49208-1 (expanded from the [http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_1.html original Outside Online article] )
* "" (2003) ISBN 0-385-50951-0.

ee also

* 1996 Everest Disaster

References

External links

* [http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=123 Book Browse Biography]
* [http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/church-response-to-jon-krakauer-s-under-the-banner-of-heaven LDS Church response to Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven]
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/features/krakauer/response.html Krakauer's response to LDS Church criticism]
* [http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/199609/199609_into_thin_air_1.html Jon Krakauer's "Outside Magazine" article "Into Thin Air" from September 1996]