Jon Krakauer

John Krakauer

Jon Krakauer was born in 1954 in his hometown of Corvallis, Oregon.  When Krakauer was eight years old, his father introduced him to mountaineering.  In 1976, Krakauer graduated from Hampshire College.  He divided his time between Colorado, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest where he made a living off of being a carpenter and a commercial salmon fisherman.  In 1977, he traveled to the Stikine Icecap.  There he went three weeks without talking to anybody and climbed up the Devils Thumb.  In May of 1996, he reached the top of Mt. Everest!  He wrote an article for the Outside Magazine which received a National Magazine Award.  Then he wrote a book on his adventures while climbing Mt. Everest call Into Thin Air.  It became the #1 New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 24 languages.  It was also name Book of the Year by TIME Magazine and also one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Times Book Review.  In 1999, Krakauer received an academy award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

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