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Jon Krakauer

As the author of the best-selling books Into the Wild (1996) and Into Thin Air (1997), Jon Krakauer was one of the most notable writers of outdoor literature in the late 20th Century. Krakauer was the third of five children, born on April 12, 1954 to Lewis Joseph and Carol Ann Krakauer in Brookline, Massachusetts, but grew up in the city of Corvallis, Oregon. As the young Krakauer was growing up, his father instilled in him an appreciation of the environment and outdoors, often venturing out into the nearby Cascade Mountains together. After graduating at Corvallis High School, Krakauer studied Environmental Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts where he graduated in 1977. He continued to explore the wilderness of North America afterwards; he once spent a three-week sole expedition in the Stikine Icecap region of Alaska where he blazed a new route on Devils Thumb. During this time, he supported himself as commercial salmon fisherman and carpenter. However, he soon began to write about his mountaineering experiences, which set him on the path of a career as a writer.