From: altamira (altamira@ecpi.com)
Date: Mon Aug 14 2000 - 14:03:24 MDT
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-extropians@extropy.org
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On Behalf Of Michael S. Lorrey
> Actually, readers of the book would see that he did not actually die of
> starvation directly, but innoctuously poisoned himself with an alkaloid
> from a wild plant that was very similar to one he regularly lived on in
> the wild in the southern 48. The alkaloid prevented his system from
> digesting anything, so no matter how much he ate (and he shot a moose
> and ate many wild plants, so he was not starving) it didn't get into his
> system.
>
> This young guy, dont remember his name, did not come up to Alaska after
> graduating college, but after several years of living in the wilderness
> in the lower 48. While many did think he was politically naive and
> emotionally immature, he was a skilled outdoorsman and knew how to keep
> himself alive.
The kid's name was Chris McCandless, as I recall. I found his story quite
moving--he made some mistakes that appear stupid in retrospect, but I could
picture myself making similar mistakes if I'd been in his situation. (I
wouldn't have made mistakes about the plants, but then I've been studying
wild & cultivated plants since I was 10 years old).
I believe the root of the plant in question WAS edible, but the seeds were
not. Chris had been eating the root of the plant all along; his metabolic
problems started when the seeds ripened and he began to eat them. There are
a number of common garden plants for which roots are edible but seeds and
leaves are not--Irish potatoes and jicamas, for example.
Barbara
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