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.
Died
c. August 1992 (aged 24)
Stampede Trail, Alaska, U.S.
Cause of death
Starvation
Body discovered
September 6, 1992
Other names
Alexander Supertramp
Education
Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School
Alma mater
Emory University
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 decomposing 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. He had been assigned the story and had written it under a tight deadline.[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.
^Krakauer, Jon (2007). "6". Into the Wild. Anchor Books. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-385-48680-4.
^McNamee, Thomas (March 3, 1996). "Adventures of Alexander Supertramp". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
^"The Call of the Wild: Into the Wild Debunked". Terra Incognita films. August 21, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Krakauer2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^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.
^Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Krakauer, Jon (September 12, 2013). "How Chris McCandless Died". The New Yorker.
berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, ChrisMcCandless. August ? McCandless's final written journal entry, noted as "Day 107", simply...
Ezra McCandless' car in Spring Brook, Wisconsin. McCandless was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2020 for the murder. On March 22, 2018, McCandless turned...
Hirsch (born March 13, 1985) is an American actor. His portrayal of ChrisMcCandless in Into the Wild (2007) earned him widespread acclaim and multiple...
wrestler Chris Mazza (born 1989), American baseball player ChrisMcCaleb (born 1978), American film editor, director and producer ChrisMcCandless (1968–1992)...
biographical drama Into the Wild (2007), in which she portrayed the sister of ChrisMcCandless. In 2007 it was announced that Malone was releasing her first single...
Vague Direction. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. "The ChrisMcCandless Story". Travel Channel. Archived from the original on 2018-07-12. Retrieved...
from the original on November 10, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2022. "ChrisMcCandless' Journey on Tripline". www.tripline.net. Archived from the original...
American film directed by Sean Penn, features a very brief scene showing ChrisMcCandless (Emile Hirsch) floating nude in a river. 2008 – Watercolors, an American...
aired as a segment on CBS News Sunday Morning on February 21, 2021. ChrisMcCandless List of solved missing person cases "Happy Birthday!!". St. Martinville...
the death of Christopher McCandless". "How ChrisMcCandless Died". The New Yorker. September 12, 2013. "How ChrisMcCandless Died: An Update". The New...
Into the Wild (book) (1996), non-fiction book by Jon Krakauer about ChrisMcCandless Into the Wild (film) (2007), directed by Sean Penn, based on the non-fiction...
Research & Applications. 6: 319–321. Jon Krakauer How ChrisMcCandless Died "How ChrisMcCandless Died: An Update". The New Yorker. Grizzly Bear Food and...
February 2015). "How ChrisMcCandless Died: An Update". The New Yorker Blog: Page-Turner. "Krakauer's wild theory on McCandless gives short shrift to...
as its film adaptation), a copy of Family Happiness was found among ChrisMcCandless' remains, with several passages highlighted. The last page of the story...
Oklahoma Press. p. 486. ISBN 0-8061-3576-X. Saverin, Diana (December 18, 2013). "The ChrisMcCandless Obsession Problem". Outside. Retrieved July 27, 2019....
Kerouac, American author Louis L'Amour Jack London, American author ChrisMcCandless, American adventurer who sometimes referred to himself as "Alexander...
his memoir A Sand County Almanac. The dam is noted as the location ChrisMcCandless crossed into Mexico by kayak. Republic, Brandon Loomis The Arizona...
Martinson, Erica. Alaska Dispatch News, 30 August 2015 "The Cult of ChrisMcCandless". Men's Journal. September 2007. Archived from the original on November...
said to be fiction based on him. Mentioned in Into the Wild as one of ChrisMcCandless' inspirations, before his trek into the Alaskan interior. The Nautilus...
2006. In September 2020, the museum became the permanent home of ChrisMcCandless's final resting place, Bus 142, which had been removed from its previous...
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