One Man's Wilderness, 50th Anniversary Edition: An Alaskan Odyssey [Paperback]

Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of when Dick Proenneke first broke ground and made his mark in the Alaskan wilds in 1968, this bestselling memoir features an all-new foreword by Nick Offerman plus color photographs not seen in print for over 20 years.

To live in a pristine land unchanged by man...to roam a wilderness through which few other humans have passed...to choose an idyllic site, cut trees, and build a log cabin...to be a self-sufficient craftsman, making what is needed from materials available...to be not at odds with the world, but content with ones own thoughts and company...

Thousands have had such dreams, but Dick Proenneke lived them. He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country.One Mans Wildernessis a simple account of the day-to-day explorations and activities he carried out alone, and the constant chain of natures events that kept him company. From Dicks journals, and with firsthand knowledge of his subject and the setting, Sam Keith has woven a tribute to a man who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.

Sometimes it is difficult for a person to know their strengths and weaknesses while living among others; one way to discover them is to live alone. Of course, most people will never venture far from the comforts of home, but Proenneke felt the call of the wild and lived the second part of his life in Alaska. . . . Keith and Proenneke were coworkers on Kodiak Island and formed a friendship that lasted for decades. . . Keiths writing is clear and descriptive; one can sense each strike of the ax and draw of the knife. The reader feels he is experiencing the adventure as well. The journal descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness flow from the page to the reader. Many of us will never realize the dream of such an escape from our hectic, complex life to that of the solitude of the wilderness. But in the pages of this book welăI