Chris McCandless's Letter to Russell Fritz

Russ,
I really enjoy all the help you have given me and the times we spent together. I hope that yo will not be too depressed by our parting. It may be a very long time before we see each other again. But providing that I get through ths Alaskan Deal in one piece you will be hearing form me again in the future. I’d like to repeat the advice I gave you before, in that I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing or been to hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one piece of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, Ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to sch a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty. And so, Russ, in short, get out of Salton City and hit the Road. I guarantee you will be very glad you did. But I fear that you will ignore my advice. You think I am stubborn, but you are even more stubborn than me. You had a wonderful chance on your drive back to see one of the greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon, something every American should see at least once in his life. But for some reason incomprehensible to me you wanted nothing but to bolt for home as quickly as possible, right back to the same situation which you see day after day after day. I fear you will follow this same inclination in the future and thus fail to discover all the wonderful things that God has placed around us to discover. Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon. You are still going to live a long time, Russ, and it would be a shame if you did not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience.

You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience. We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living.

My point is that you do not need me or anyone else around to bring this kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it. The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubbornness to engage in new circumstances.

Russ, I really hope that as soon as you can you will get out of Salton City, put a little camper on the back of your pickup, and start seeing some of the great work that God has done here in the American West. you will see things and meet people and there is much to learn from them. And you must do it economy style, no motels, do your own cooking, as a general rule spend as little as possible and you will enjoy it much more immensely. I hope that the next time I see you, you will be a new man with a vast array of new adventures and experiences behind you. Don’t hesitate or allow yourself to make excuses. Just get out and do it. Just get out and do it. You will be very, very glad that you did.

Take care Russ,

Alex

More incompetent than spy.

I was reading about Mata Hari. Apparently she was more of a dupe, than a conspirator or spy. It reminds me of Emile Zola and Captain Dreyfuss. Esterhazy was the actual spy(double agent)for whom Captain Dreyfuss was the perfect foil. Captain Dreyfuss is forever a symbol of right and wrong. And Emile Zola was the Archimedes of his time, a man who had convictions and was fearless in standing up for them. The fury that I feel that Esterhazy was allowed to flee to England after Emile Zola's campaign to free the innocent Dreyfuss grabbed the publics attention.

Rick Young a Young Socialist

Our friends determine who we are. My best friend in college was a Young Socialist named Rick Young. I liked him because he believed in things and had the courage of his convictions. We argued all the time and he kept my mind sharp because he made me defend what I believed in. He is the son of two decent people Sam Young, A Methodist Minister and Hymnal composer. A Professor of Church Music at Emory. Rick's Dad introduced me to Robert Shaw the Conductor of Atlanta Symphony. His Mom was Majorie Young, a wonderful thoughtful woman who didn't have to think about being a good mother, because she was born for the job. Anyone who met her knew that. We need more people like the Youngs in the world. I was lucky enough that they shared their world with me. If I show kindness to another it is in Thanks for the kindness you showed me.

Jim Garrison and Lee Harvey Oswald

I remember how Republicans attacked Jim Garrison for suggesting that Republicans were involved in a conspiracy to assasinate President Kennedy. He pointed out two people in particular, who had close ties to Anti-Castro Cubans, David Ferrie and Clay Shaw both of whom he contended were members of the CIA. Denials from the CIA and the Justice Department confirmed that Republicans were right.
Long after Jim's death the picture above came to light, proving that David Ferrie knew Lee Harvey Oswald. We also know that the Russians always believed that Oswald was CIA. That is from Kremlin Files. We also knew that on his own volition George Bush Sr. went to the Dallas Police and volunteered to help and provided his own alibi for the time of the killing. When no one asked him for an alibi. This was at a point that we know that Bush was CIA and has lied about it ever since. We now know that Clay Shaw and David Ferrie were CIA. So the several membeers CIA committed perjury. We also know that J Edgar Hoover committed Perjury.
Jim Garrison was an honest man and he told the truth.

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. Thomas Edward Lawrence (August 16, 1888-May 19, 1935)

The difference between Justice and Right and Wrong

We now know that Dr. Sam Shepard was innocent, during the investigation of Marilyn Shepard's murder. The police interviewed Richard Eberling, the Shepard's caretaker and fixit man within hours of the murder. During the interview, Eberling volunteered why his blood "might" be found in the house. He said that he had cut his hand on a nail at the house and showed it to the interviewing officer. A trail of blood was found in the house, from the Shepard's bedroom on the second floor going downstairs and out of the house. When the police examined Sam Shepard they found that he had no cuts or wounds on his body. Richard Eberling was found to have pawned one of Marilyn's rings.
20 years later Eberling was convicted of another murder and suspected of several others.

In Remembrance of Things Past

Two people have passed away who deserve to be remembered:

James Aubrey Tregidgo died at age 62. One of my first real heroes. He spoke and I listened. He thought while others didn't. He cared when other couldn't. He was more of a man to me while still a boy than most men ever can be. Being six years older than me, merely meant it was very easy for me to look up to him. His death was hardly noticed by others, it was impossible to overlook for me. We'll miss you Ralph. I'll miss you Ralph.

Ian Brown of Walnut Grove, California. As a boy, his brother was killed in an accident in Venezuela(their Dad worked for an Oil Company) which nearly took his life. He and his brother had been walking along a steep incline and horsing around. His brother slipped and fell down the mountain. Ian blamed himself for something which couldn't possibly be his fault. Though his life slipped into a downward spiral, Ian maintained a certain nobility. He never ceased helping others and always protected the weak. When any of the lost kids he was with were hurt or sick he would stay in the hospital with them until they were well. But he couldn't help blaming himself for something which wasn't his fault. I guess Ian needed his brother to tell him that. At least now he knows and he has now finally found the happiness that escaped him in life which he truly deserved.