Chris McCandless

Chris McCandless
McCandless next to the Fairbanks City Transit System Bus 142 on the Stampede Trail, found as an undeveloped photographic film in his camera after his death
Born
Christopher Johnson McCandless

(1968-02-12)February 12, 1968
Inglewood, California, U.S.
Diedc. August 1992 (aged 24)
Stampede Trail, Alaska, U.S.
Cause of deathStarvation
Body discoveredSeptember 6, 1992
Other namesAlexander Supertramp
EducationWilbert Tucker Woodson High School
Alma materEmory University (BA)
Parents
  • Walt McCandless (father)
  • Billie McCandless (mother)

Christopher Johnson McCandless (/məˈkændlɪs/; February 12, 1968[1] – c. August 1992), also known by his pseudonym "Alexander Supertramp",[2] was an American adventurer who sought an increasingly nomadic lifestyle as he grew up. McCandless is the subject of Into the Wild, a nonfiction book by Jon Krakauer that was later made into a full-length feature film.

After graduating from Emory University in Georgia in 1990, McCandless traveled across North America and eventually hitchhiked to Alaska in April 1992. There, he entered the Alaskan bush with minimal supplies, hoping to live simply off the land. On the eastern bank of the Sushana River, McCandless found an abandoned bus, Fairbanks Bus 142, which he used as a makeshift shelter until his death. In September, his body, weighing only 67 pounds (30 kg), was found inside the bus by a hunter. McCandless's cause of death was officially ruled to be starvation,[3][4] although the exact circumstances relating to his death remain the subject of some debate.[5][6][7][8]

In January 1993, Krakauer published an article about McCandless in that month's issue of Outside magazine.[9] Inspired by the details of McCandless's story, Krakauer wrote the biographical book Into the Wild, which was subsequently adapted into a 2007 film directed by Sean Penn, with Emile Hirsch portraying McCandless. That same year, McCandless became the subject of Ron Lamothe's documentary The Call of the Wild.

  1. ^ Krakauer, Jon (2007). "6". Into the Wild. Anchor Books. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-385-48680-4.
  2. ^ McNamee, Thomas (March 3, 1996). "Adventures of Alexander Supertramp". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Call of the Wild: Into the Wild Debunked". Terra Incognita films. August 21, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Krakauer2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Medred, Craig (January 10, 2015). "The fiction that is Jon Krakauer's 'Into the Wild'". Alaska Dispatch News. Archived from the original on July 3, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Krakauer, Jon (September 12, 2013). "How Chris McCandless Died". The New Yorker.