Many people talk about living a simpler life. This often pairs up with hip new terms like “social detoxification” or “social media purge,” where they remove some of the less convenient things from their lives and reduce their overall digital footprint.
Some people go even further and reduce their whole state of living, going from city life with the nearby convenience to suburban, or even rural, farmstead living where they grow and raise their food and live quiet, simple lives.
The undisputed king of all simplifications was Richard Proenneke, the very idea of a thriving survivalist.
Richard Proenneke was a country boy from Iowa who eventually settled into Alaska to live the most rugged, true survivalist lifestyle he possibly could.
Removed from civilization, reliant only on himself, he lived 30 years off of the bounty of nature, proving that man could return to nature in his way.
10 /10 Early Life
Richard was born to William Christian Proenneke and Laura in 1916. He was the fourth of seven children, the perfect middle between his three brothers and three sisters.
There was some minor confusion over his actual date of birth, often mis-listed as 1917, but social security records made it clear later.
He was born in Primrose, Iowa, and went to public school until high school when he left because he didn’t like it anymore and instead turned to work as a farmhand for the surrounding county.
9 /10 Country Boy
Richard and his whole family were modest people of humble backgrounds. His father served in World War 1 and went on to be an all-around handyman, doing painting and carpentry and good professional drilling.
Richard, likewise, followed up in doing mostly manual and mechanically skilled labor on farms and around the house for much of his youth. When he was a teenager, he saved up his money from working to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle.