UKC

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/mar/15/stranger-in-the-woods-christop...

Great story

In reply to Flinticus:


You mean to tell me that afer 25 years in the woods, his great truth is that teenagers are right after all? I think I'll go and live in the woods.

In reply to Flinticus:
Interesting story but bear in mind that he only survived by burglary/thieving from others - that's not a very commendable life style......

I would have had more respect for him if he had accepted hand outs. Stealing is never acceptable

In reply to Trangia:

I would imagine the first thing he did on being jailed was to thump a guard, so he could be sent to solitary...

In reply to Trangia:

I was disappointed the story took that direction. I was expecting the tale of a resourceful outdoorsman, not someone who stayed within spitting distance of people and knicked their bread and milk when they weren't home.

In reply to Trangia:


Well, on a purely moral measure I'd say stealing a bit of food from holiday cabins for ones own welfare ranks fairly low-down on a scale of wrongdoing compared to what people can get up to perfectly legally to rip-off others. The fact he's been locked up seems disproportionate, until you consider it's the USA . Furthermore, I've read about this before, and I recall he may have had a diagnosis of Aspergers whilst being checked-out in prison. If true you'd need to factor in that at the time he took to his solitary existence people with that condition would have had little understanding from society in general, and he may have seen doing what he did as the only choice to avoid a breakdown or suicide.

In reply to wurzelinzummerset:

<<The fact he's been locked up seems disproportionate, until you consider it's the USA>>

Something to do with the TICs?

In reply to Flinticus:

He only got 7 months for approx. 1000 burglaries, so dealt with fairly lightly IMHO.

Being burgled is not a pleasant experience and he didn't just take food, he stole TVs, playstations, batteries, propane gas etc, etc...............

In reply to Tricky Dicky:

Seems probable that there's a mental health concern here. Why nick a TV if you have no electricity? Or perhaps there's a bit more to the story that the journalist hasn't conveyed...

In reply to Trangia:

Stealing is never acceptable. That's a fairly black and white, childish and even for a child, thoughtless and simple, view of things.

In reply to Flinticus:

http://www.wnyc.org/story/the-north-pond-hermit-snap-806-personal-jesus/

In reply to Tricky Dicky:

What did he do with the playstation?

In reply to Flinticus:

Have you ever been burgled and robbed? I have been several times in my life. It's a horrible experience - a violation which is very disturbing for the victim. For whatever reason he did it, this character should not be afforded the status of a "cult hero" which is what the press seem to have done.

In reply to Flinticus:

Judging by the amount of stuff he'd surrounded his 'camp' with he spent a lot of time stealing other stuff. He's got more dustbins than we have and he certainly didn't make them or find them. He stole the lot - and a lot more.

That said I think there's a little more to this story than meets the eye. I wonder for example, how well you'd be able to actually talk after 20+ years without company? And did he really manage to stay isolated without anyone stumbling across his hideaway, given he was so close to other humans and houses?

Ishi, the last survivor of his tribe the Yahi, he was discovered by europeans in California in 1911 or thereabouts. He spent his entire life knowing he'd probably be murdered - as had all the rest of his tribe - if he was discovered by whites, and despite living in or around remote valleys, in an extremely well hidden location he and his immediate family were discovered by a group of surveyors.

In reply to Flinticus:

Thanks for sharing, a fascinating story, has anyone read the book (s)?