Jon Krakauer is the author of eight books, including Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven and Missoula. Raised in Corvallis, Oregon, he graduated fromHampshire College in 1976, after which he worked as a carpenter, then a commercial fisherman in Alaska before embarking on a career as a writer. In 1999 he received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to the award citation, “Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.”