Any admirers or fans of Dick Proenneke?

[AltTransBikes]

Bit OT on rv or van dwelling but to me an inspiration: he had wonderful resourcefulness, lived frugally, found meaning in solitude.

 

[owl]

Sounds interesting,tell us more.

 

[James AKA Lynx]

I yes, A good read for the winter. Enjoyed watching his movies. Very interesting.

 

[AltTransBikes]

Sounds interesting,tell us more.

Originally from Iowa, a heavy equipment mechanic, Dick moved to a remote area of AK when he was in his mid 50's and pretty much lived a hand built life there off the grid for another 30 years thereafter. As Lynx mentioned there are a couple of films out on his life that he painstaking shot himself and originally aired on PBS. Dick passed away in 2003 at the age of 87.

http://www.dickproenneke.com/DickProenneke.html

 

[jeanontheroad]

I think I saw the PBS special. It was very interesting.

A lot of people think that sort of life would be good. But very few people are actually suited to it, and how many of them are really so self-contained as opposed to how many of them are just socially dysfunctional is a question.

Many of us want to simplify our lives. We want to get away from the ratrace and the tyranny of our "stuff, " much of which we have lost interest in but somehow can't get rid of. But we don't want to be cut off from society. We want our iphones and our computers. We want wifi. We want companionship with others who think like we do and are not going to judge.

We want to re-evaluate, refresh and reboot. We want to live more on our own terms. We don't want to take a vow of silence and become hermits.

 

[owl]

jrd, your post is irrelevant to this thread.

 

[AltTransBikes]

Yep, to each their own.

I see a man like Dick Proenneke living a rich, fulfilling life done on his own terms. He knew what he wanted and did it. He hand-made a life, mostly with just an axe and simple hand tools. He was resourceful beyond measure, and extremely clever, had a garden, hunted and fished, and was as nearly self-sufficient as one can be. He shot thousands of feet of film on his own with an old wind up 8mm movie camera, painstaking documenting the life and the natural world around him. He kept meticulous records on weather and other natural phenomena that the USFS still uses as reference today for the region he lived which was annexed into a national park. I see his life as fully occupied and seemed to be one long on intelligence, grace, humor and balance. Particularly noteworthy, to me at least, was he did all this starting in his mid 50's. Never too late to begin.

As far as anyone being suited to it, many probably are not, that's for each mature adult to decide. I won't get into behaviorist questions of what's idealist whimsy or social dysfunction. I find the guy an inspiration whether one heads for the bush or not, for his level headedness, industry and will.

 

[cleanheart]

Very inspiring man. Tough as nails and smart to boot! I don't think I could live as he did. I'm frugal to a fault but he was beyond that!

 

[owl]

ATB, thanks for bringing this man to our attention. Connects very well with some of us here. Some here are beyond connecting with, thank goodness. I am curious as to how you found him?

 

[AltTransBikes]

Owl: A friend gave me his video about 8 years ago, it had just come out after his death. He shot so much film a second video has been released and out for awhile now. Kinda amazing is he shot all the film alone, setting up a tripod and filming himself building his cabin, hunting, fishing, daily chores etc and of course plenty of landscape panorama. Of course I wouldn't guess time was much of a pressing issue for him.

He was a homesteader on the land before the park came into being. After the NPS took control of the region, they allowed him to stay on, grandfathered in, and his cabin, and life, has since been preserved and now become part of Lake Clark National Park in AK.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Thanks for the introduction to this interesting man. Not having seen anything on him before, I turned to youtube and found several things by and about him.

 

[Patrick46]

I've watched his documentarys several times....I LOVE 'em!!

I think I could do something like that, but I'd rather do it in someplace WARM...like a tropical island!