Home 5 Articles and Reports 5 The bus from ‘Into the Wild’ airlifted to new location

The bus from ‘Into the Wild’ airlifted to new location

by | Jun 25, 2020 | Articles and Reports, News

One of the world’s largest and most haunting pieces of literary memorabilia is beginning a new life.  The 1940s Fairbanks Alaska bus in which the idealistic, Tolstoy-obsessed hiker and would-be writer Chris McCandless starved to death in 1992 – and whose story is told in Jon Krakauer’s acclaimed Into the Wild, and the Sean Penn film of the same title released in 2007 – has been airlifted to a new “safe location” because of the number of rescue call-outs and deaths of tourists trying to reach the site.

The Alaska natural resources commissioner Corri Feige said: “We encourage people to enjoy Alaska’s wild areas safely, and we understand the hold this bus has had on the popular imagination.  However, this is an abandoned and deteriorating vehicle that was requiring dangerous and costly rescue efforts. More importantly, it was costing some visitors their lives.”

Earlier this year five Italian tourists trying to reach the bus had to be rescued and last year a woman from Belarus died trying to reach the site.  The Alaskan National Guard removed the bus with a heavy-lift Chinook helicopter earlier this month.

McCandless’ strange and moving story was first told by Krakauer in an article in Outside magazine.  The article generated the most mail in the magazine’s history and led to Krakauer’s celebrated book, first published in the US by Villard in 1996.  The book featured the bus on its cover.  The title comes from the postcard McCandless posted to a friend four months before he died.  He said: ‘If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t hear from me again I want you to know you’re a great man.  I now walk into the wild.’

Krakauer painstakingly retraced McCandless’ two-year odyssey around the States.  He discovered that he had given away nearly $25,000 to charity, burned all the cash in his wallet and then invented a new life for himself ‘taking up residence at the ragged margin of our society, wandering across North America in search of raw, transcendent experience’.  He eventually walked alone into the wilderness north of Alaska’s Mt McKinley and four months later his decomposed body was found in the abandoned bus by a part of moose hunters.

Krakauer notes that McCandless was long captivated by the writing of Leo Tolstoy, and particularly admired how the great novelist had ‘forsaken a life of wealth and privilege to wander among the destitute’.

The bus is now in a secure location while the authorities decide its future.  Most poignantly of all, a suitcase that was found in the bus has been returned to McCandless’ family.

Recent News

17Jun
K-Book Copyright Market 2025 Kicks Off in Seoul

K-Book Copyright Market 2025 Kicks Off in Seoul

The K-Book Copyright Market 2025 has officially kicked off in Seoul and will continue through June 18 at Lotte Hotel World in Songpa-gu District. The event brings together 100 publishing companies from 30 countries for three days of copyright negotiations, business meetings, and global exchange. It is jointly organized by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, […]

16Jun
Beijing Book Fair 2025: Tech and Books Unite

Beijing Book Fair 2025: Tech and Books Unite

The 31st Beijing International Book Fair this month goes heavily into conferences and academic publishing. Asia’s biggest trade event has enjoyed double-digit growth in exhibitor numbers, with AI and STM topics high on the agenda at Beijing. The 31st Beijing International Book Fair, themed “Promoting Civilizational Inheritance and Development, Advancing Exchange and Mutual Learning for […]

12Jun
The UK launches annual awards for audio content

The UK launches annual awards for audio content

Two of the UK’s leading cultural publications – The Bookseller and The Stage – have announced the launch of The British Audio Awards aka The Speakies, a brand-new annual event celebrating outstanding achievement in audiobooks and audio drama.   The British Audio Awards will shine a spotlight on ‘the most innovative, moving, and masterfully produced […]

Related Posts

K-Book Copyright Market 2025 Kicks Off in Seoul

K-Book Copyright Market 2025 Kicks Off in Seoul

The K-Book Copyright Market 2025 has officially kicked off in Seoul and will continue through June 18 at Lotte Hotel World in Songpa-gu District. The event brings together 100 publishing companies from 30 countries for three days of copyright negotiations, business...

Onshur: Sharjah’s Vision for Publishing Sustainability

Onshur: Sharjah’s Vision for Publishing Sustainability

The Sharjah Publishing Sustainability Fund (Onshur) stands as a landmark initiative within the UAE’s ongoing efforts to empower the publishing sector and strengthen its presence both locally and internationally. In its latest milestone, the fund recently celebrated...

Beijing Book Fair 2025: Tech and Books Unite

Beijing Book Fair 2025: Tech and Books Unite

The 31st Beijing International Book Fair this month goes heavily into conferences and academic publishing. Asia’s biggest trade event has enjoyed double-digit growth in exhibitor numbers, with AI and STM topics high on the agenda at Beijing. The 31st Beijing...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this