The Afterword Reading Society: The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless
Karen Bosworth asks: Do you continue to have a relationship with your mother and father, and what made you finally decide to tell the truth about your family?
Carine McCandless responds: No, my parents made their choice to no longer associate with me years ago, long before I decided to write this book. From one aspect, this is unfortunate. But from a more important standpoint, I have learned that maintaining a relationship with them is toxic, and an unhealthy situation for my children. For several years I have been working with high school and college students that have been assigned Krakauer’s Into the Wild as required reading. As I became more comfortable with their questions and began to speak openly about our family history, I witnessed the positive effects of sharing my story and filling in the blanks of Chris’s. I received countless letters from students, professors and parents, thanking me for providing this new perspective, and I realized I had something very important to share.
Kathy Griffin asks: Would you have been strong enough to tell this story without the support of your siblings?
Carine McCandless responds: Yes, I believe that strength is within me, but their presence makes this book much more powerful. I am the youngest of eight siblings, and the truth of our families’ histories was undeniably a catalyst for why Chris felt the need to… See the complete story on NPR.com.
