Jim Nolan's Blog

Richard Proenneke, the Polar Opposite of Chris McCandless?

 

For Christmas I got a copy of "Alone in the Wilderness," a film about Dick Proenneke by Bob Swerer Productions. In 1968, when Dick turned 51, he decided he'd like to live in the Alaska wilderness year round (he was an in-demand diesel mechanic in King Salmon). He single-handledly built a log cabin with hand tools, and stayed there for the next 30 or so years. Proenneke is The Man. An expert carpenter, hunter, outdoorsman and filmmaker (he records his story with a Bolex camera), he was also a terrific writer. The film uses his observations for the narration (someone else reads it) and marries them to the film he shot. I can't help wishing Chris McCandless (the subject of of Jon Krakauer's bestseller Into the Wild) had met the guy and learned how to survive from him (McCandless died in 1992; Proenneke moved back to the Lower 48 in 1999). As different as they were in skills, it seems like they were alike in many ways, each having a desire to test himself and a deep love of the natural world.

Interview with Richard Proenneke editor, John Branson

Branson and Proenneke making ice cream, Lake Clark, Alaska circa 1979. Photo by Raymond Proenneke.

 Listen to Richard Proenneke: Not So "Alone in the Wilderness"

łi Ta'a: Glacier Water By Antone Evan

Qizjeh Vena (Lake Clark), flying through Lake Clark Pass. Photo by Karen Evanoff.

Antone Evan traces the path of a glacier in an interview with Priscilla Russell, transcribed by Albert Wassille. It's from Dela'ina Ełnena, A Celebration: Voices of the Dena'ina, which is edited by Lake Clark National Park Service cultural anthropologist Karen Evanoff. I love the next-to-last line, "That glacial water travels farther than human beings, that water goes farther than people can travel." Richard "Dick" Proenneke was a wonderful writer on Twin Lakes (Niłqidlen Vena). Dela'ina Ełnena demonstrates he lived in a land of many incredible stories.

Video Tour of Richard Proenneke's Cabin

 

Video from DC Morga's YouTube channel. Thanks for sharing your tour.

Dena'ina: The People Before Proenneke

A terrific book sent to me by historian John Branson's colleague Karen Evanoff, a cultural anthropologist with the Lake Clark National Park Service. It contains fantastic recollections and stories by Dena'ina Athabascans, who've lived in the Lake Clark area for thousands of years. You can hear an interview with Evanoff on Alaska Public Radio here. Below I post a map from the book. At the top you'll find Twin Lakes, where Richard "Dick" Proenneke lived and wrote from 1968 to 1999. According to Branson, "The Dena'ina word for Twin Lakes is Niłqidlen Vena or 'lakes that flow into one another'." Click to enlarge.

Unlikely Google AdChoices Choice

A screenshot of an ad that appeared on my blog's right column the other day. I suppose the algorithm picked up on the Richard Proenneke Alaska posts. But Nome? Barge cargo? Hurry, you only have until May 15.

Dena'ina Athabascan Words for Twin Lakes, Alaska

Upper Twin Lake, Alaska. Photo: National Park Service. 

Some Athabascan I've learned from John Branson, editor of two volumes of Richard Proenneke journals:

"The Lake Clark Native people are Dena'ina Athabascans and the Dena'ina name for Lake Clark is Qizhjeh Vena, pronounced as Kijik Vena, meaning "many people gather at this lake."

"The Dena'ina word for Twin Lakes is Niłqidlen Vena or "lakes that flow into one another." Vena means lake in Dena'ina."

Note that the word "Niłqidlen" used a "barred L," which I never heard of before.

Here's a link to the Dena'ina Language Collection in the Alaska Native Language Archive at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Richard Proenneke's "One Man's Wilderness," 26th Printing

This is the book that made Dick Proenneke famous, but he wasn't happy with the editing. Check out this video at about 4:10 in which he discusses that. It's from Bob Swerer's "Alaska, Silence & Solitude" film, in which Swerer visits Dick at the Twin Lakes cabin when Dick was 75. Swerer is the narrator (he reads from Proenneke's journals) of "Alone in the Wilderness," and he's terrific. The 26th edition of the book was published in 2009 and won the National Outdoor Book Award. You can buy it at Alaska Geographic here. And you can read about the new collection of his writings, "The Early Years" edited by John Branson, here. 

Richard Proenneke's Early Writing, edited by John Branson

Proenneke fans are sure to enjoy this new volume of his writing from 1967-1973. You can get it from Alaska Geographic here. 

Richard Proenneke's Favorite Reader, Helen White

A screen grab of the dedication to More Readings from One Man's Wilderness by Richard Proenneke, published by the National Park Service. You can read it here. In the excellent biographical sketch, editor John Branson writes, "Although a life-long bachelor, Proenneke liked women and had many female friends." In the film "Alone in the Wilderness" by Bob Swerer Productions, Proenneke compares the changable conditions on Twin Lakes to a woman, "all smiles one minute and dancing a temper tantrum the next."