1. Richard Louis Proenneke was an American self-educated naturalist, conservationist, writer, and wildlife photographer who, from the age of about 51, lived alone for nearly thirty years in the mountains of Alaska in a log cabin that he constructed by hand near the shore of Twin Lakes.
Richard Proenneke documented his activities in journals and on film, and recorded valuable meteorological and natural data.
Richard Proenneke bequeathed his cabin to the National Park Service upon his death and it was included in the National Register of Historic Places four years later.
Richard Proenneke's mother, Laura was a homemaker and gardener.
Richard Proenneke's parents married in December 1909 and had three daughters and four sons: Robert, Helen, Lorene, Richard, Florence, Paul, and Raymond.
The year of Proenneke's birth is often given as 1917, but social security and census records note Richard Louis Proenneke was born in Primrose, Harrison Township, Lee County, Iowa, on May 4,1916.
Richard Proenneke completed primary school in Primrose, but left high school after two years because he did not enjoy it.
Richard Proenneke admired motorcycles and obtained a Harley Davidson as a teen.
Richard Proenneke enlisted in the United States Navy the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served as a carpenter.
Richard Proenneke spent almost two years at Pearl Harbor and was later stationed in San Francisco waiting for a new ship assignment.
Richard Proenneke spent the next several years working throughout Alaska as both a salmon fisherman and diesel technician.
Richard Proenneke worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service at King Salmon on the Alaska Peninsula.
On May 21,1968, Richard Proenneke arrived at his new place of retirement at Twin Lakes.
Richard Proenneke's cabin is handmade and is notable for its fine craftsmanship as a result of his carpentry and woodworking skills; he made 8mm films covering its construction.
Richard Proenneke used metal containers for food storage: one-gallon cans were cut into basin shapes and buried below the frost line.
Richard Proenneke remained at Twin Lakes for the next sixteen months, after which he briefly went home to visit relatives and secure more supplies.
Richard Proenneke returned to Twin Lakes the following spring and remained there for most of the next thirty years, traveling to the contiguous United States only occasionally to visit his family.
Richard Proenneke made a film record of his solitary life, which was later re-edited and made into the documentary Alone in the Wilderness.
Richard Proenneke's cabin was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
In 1999, at age 83, Richard Proenneke left his cabin and moved to Hemet, California, where he lived the remainder of his life with his brother Raymond "Jake" Richard Proenneke.
Richard Proenneke died of a stroke on April 20,2003, at the age of 86.
Richard Proenneke willed his cabin to the National Park Service, and it remains a popular visitor attraction in the still-remote Twin Lakes region of Lake Clark National Park.
Richard Proenneke however alleged that Keith had "changed some things" to embellish the story, such as writing that Richard Proenneke had assumed a role as King of Bears and wielded power over them.
In 2003, some of the copyrighted text from the book and some of Richard Proenneke's film were used with permission in the documentary Alone in the Wilderness, which began appearing on US Public Television.
The book, edited by John Branson, a longtime Lake Clark National Park employee and friend of Richard Proenneke, covers the years when the park was established.
Richard Proenneke had a very close relationship with the Park Service, assisting them in filming sensitive areas and notifying them if poachers were in the area.