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Richard writes -
"Have any of you ever seen this 1968 doc about Dick Proenneke? Just watched it last night on PBS. Talk about a guy who could MAKE things!! He doesn't just build a log cabin in Alaska, he builds his own tools, dishes, pots and pans, door hinges, refrigerator etc.! And he did it all with a 16mm camera and tripod filming everything he did for a year. He explains in detail the making of the tools, etc., and all with surprisingly "professional" camera work for a mountain man. If you get KQED Encore on cable, they're showing it several times today. Enjoy!" - Link & more.
I have seen this on our local PBS station and it is a great spot on how to make it out in the stix!
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My mom recorded this for me a year or so ago, and gave it to me on my next visit. It really was fun to watch - the guy is so totally into his situation and environment, taking temperature readings at the pond, making furniture, etc. I had the feeling he never sat around wondering what to do next.
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One of the guys I work with who is in his 50s told me about this show, I caught it on pbs once and fell in love. I ordered the move and book. When I want to have a relaxing evening when I am stressed out I watch this movie. He donated his cabin to the state and it is now a part of the state park systems.
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Part of the state park system, and under great disrepair last I heard of.
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That guy is pretty determined. Good link.
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As "simply" as it's written, I really enjoyed his book,"One Man's Wilderness". If you're into the frontier, Robinson Crusoe, rebuild-the-comforts-of-society thing, it's great.
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Our PBS station gave his book and DVD to contributors during a recent fund drive, so you ought to be able to purchase them. Well worth the investment. He used only hand tools, felling trees with an axe and ripping boards with a handsaw. His book provides detail that's absent from the DVD, but you have to see the video!
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he cheated though, he said so himself. he used plastic under the moss on his roof
WTF HAX!!1!!1!!
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You can dig on more home-grown makers by checking out the Foxfire books, available at most booksellers or on the Foxfire.org page. Southern mountain Americans, scratching out a living with their hands and their wits, who kept old ways of doing things alive, because they had to in order to survive. Mind boggling and inspirational.
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Most of us will live our lives unfulfilled with little to show for our time on the planet. Dick had little financial wealth, but he was a better man than me. His film helps me to escape the clutter every time I watch it.
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