Awesome or Awful, you decide

[noharleyyet]

Hard to admire him, he was really nothing more than a loner who needed to steal to survive. Now Dick Proenneke was a loner of sorts who knew how the hell to survive, hunt, fish, cook, garden, build awesome shit, and IMO the most admirable poetic mountain man with a first class personality and demeanor that I've ever seen. I admire Dick Proenneke a ton, not this guy.

I have the DVD & have viewed it countless times. Talk about sticking with a plan, that guy is/was the epitome of perseverance.

 

[Straight Arrow]

I have the DVD & have viewed it countless times. Talk about sticking with a plan, that guy is/was the epitome of perseverance.

For sure! His ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness was beyond impressive. I was especially intrigued by his use of wood limbs to carve and create door hinges for the cabin door. The process he used in carving a large wooden spoon to be given as a gift was inspiring to any wood crafter.

 

[406LIFE]

I gotta vote awful. Living by yourself does not make you a mountain man, per se. This is just a thief that got caught.

 

[noharleyyet]

It's a good thing we have the Kardashians and this Maine Rumpelstiltskin home creeper to sate the news cycle gluttons.

 

[Jezz]

I'll be the third to recommend Dick Proenneke's book and the documentary. Good stuff!

Dick Proenneke = Stud. Amazingly resourceful and downright genius wood worker. To add, filming himself at the that time is pretty remarkable.

 

[bobbydean]

That a man steals for 20 years to survive is awful.

I can find like people under the local overpass. Homeless, who are healthy, but refuse to work. Live off foraging in trash cans.

I take it back. The homeless are a class above this guy. Most homeless I have contact with ( I work overnight and have a lot of contact) are very fit individuals

with serious mental problems!

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Saw another article on this. Apparently is was a few years ago and the article appeared because a book written about him is out. Its caller "The Stranger in the Woods." I read the description, definitely different than how may perceive this, it even talks about how he as adjusted since being back around people. I wonder if any of his victims will see a dime of the money he will likely get from this?

 

[noharleyyet]

A documentary film team showed up. A woman proposed marriage.

..hope he accepted.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Apparently in jail he was diagnosed with aspergers. This would explain his level of inteligence and why he abstained from human contact. His camp was apparently only a few hundred feet from several cabins and roads but was almost undetectable until you were practically standing in it. Apparently when asked he was ashamed and said he deserved to be in jail because he knew stealing was wrong. Maybe you guys don't find it interesting but I am amazed that this ever happened. Certainly not condoning it.

Whats more amazing is that he is free from jail and trying to live in society. He has to be in front of a judge once a week.

 

[LuketheDog]

I'd be more impressed if the guy lived and survived off his own piece of property instead of stealing multiple times from over 100 families. Every hunter-gatherer-litterer needs their TV and video games though! It's just crazy how the media glorifies sociopaths...