Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, primarily known for his writings about the outdoors, especially mountain climbing.
Background
Ethnicity:
Jon's father was Jewish and his mother was a Unitarian, of Scandinavian descent.
Jon Krakauer was born on April 12, 1954 in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States, as the third of five children of Carol Ann (Jones) and Lewis Joseph Krakauer. He was raised in Corvallis, Oregon, from the age of two. His father introduced the young Krakauer to mountaineering at the age of eight.
Education
Jon competed in tennis at Corvallis High School and graduated in 1972. He went on to study at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, where in 1976 he received his degree in Environmental Studies.
Career
Much of Krakauer's popularity as a writer came from his work as a journalist for Outside. In November 1983, he was able to give up his part-time work as a fisherman and carpenter to become a full-time writer.
Jon's writing has appeared in Architectural Digest, National Geographic Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Smithsonian. Krakauer's 1992 book Eiger Dreams collects some of his articles written between 1982 and 1989.
Achievements
Jon is famous as the author of best-selling non-fiction books—Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman—as well as numerous magazine articles.
Founder Everest '96 Memorial Fund, Boulder Community Foundation, Colorado, 1998. Board directors American Himalayan Foundation, Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation.
Personality
The people Krakauer interviewed emphasize “how particularly intelligent, unusual and just plain likable this young man was.”
Interests
Mountain climbing.
Connections
In 1977, Jon met former climber Linda Mariam Moore, and they married in 1980. They lived in Seattle, Washington, but moved to Boulder, Colorado after the release of Krakauer's book Into Thin Air.
Recipient National Magazine award for reporting, American Society Magazine Editors, 1997, Walter Sullivan award for excellence in science journalism, American Geophysical Union, 1997, Academy award in literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1999.
Recipient National Magazine award for reporting, American Society Magazine Editors, 1997, Walter Sullivan award for excellence in science journalism, American Geophysical Union, 1997, Academy award in literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1999.
