Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer was born in 1954 and was born in raised in Corvallis, Oregon. His interest in mountaineering began in when he was eight years old when his father introduced him to it. In 1976, he graduated from Hampshire College. After his graduation, he earned his living by being a carpenter and commercial salmon fisher and spent his free time in the mountains. A year later in 1977, Krakauer climbed a new path up Devil's Thumb in Southeast Alaska and in 1992 he conquered the West Face of Cerro Torre in the Patagonian Andes, which at the time, was the most difficult climb in the world.

His book Into Thin Air is a biography about the experience that he had while climbing Mt. Everest. On his company's descent, a strong storm killed four out of the five teammates that accompanied him on the climb. It was honored by both TIME magazine and the New York Times Book Review. It was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1999, Krakauer won an Academy Award in Literature for Into the Wild from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a very exalted award that recognizes "writers of exceptional accomplishment."

Jon Krakauer also has had his journalism posted in many esteemed magazines and newspapers. His book Into the Wild spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list. He also published a book of mountaineering essays called Eiger Dreams, and another by the name of Iceland: A Land of Sagas, which contains some of his photography.

Information from: www.randomhouse.com/features/krakauer/author.html

Images from:http://www.newnewjournalism.com/authors/Jon_Krakauer.jpg and http://newhum.com/3e/for_students/link_o_mat/images/krakauer.jpg