November 1 | Carl McCunn

1946 - November 1981: Age 35

Carl McCunn arranged to be dropped by plane in the Alaskan wilderness in March 1981 with supplies for the summer and 500 rolls of film. He planned to spend the season photographing wildlife. What he didn't plan, however, was his trip out again. He forgot to arrange for a plane to come and pick him up.

Strangely, his whole ordeal is meticulously recorded through the diaries he kept on loose-leaf paper over 8 months. He planned to leave by mid-August, but as the date approached he realized that he might not have made his arrangements clear enough. It was with great relief that he spied a plane circling overhead; he flagged it down, or so he thought. The pilot, who had been sent by concerned friends, noticed McCunn waving casually, giving the all-OK signal, then walking slowly toward his tent. From this he surmised there was no problem and left. It was only after the plane disappeared that McCunn realized he had given the wrong hand signal.

He was camped 225 miles north of Fairbanks, 75 miles from Fort Yukon. Rather than try to walk back to civilization, he decided to sit tight and hope someone would come back and get him. He stopped dating his diary entries, as he had to spend most of his time and energy looking for food and keeping warm. By October he had run out of food, and was competing with the local foxes for game. He saved one bullet, however, for himself. Toward the end, he wrote, "Am burning the last of my emergency Coleman light and just fed the fire the last of my split wood. When the ashes cool, I'll be cooling along with them." When the rangers found his body the following February, emaciated and frozen, his last diary entry read, "Dear God in Heaven, please forgive me my weakness and my sins. Please look over my family." He added a separate note asking that his personal items be returned to his father, and he said that the person who found him should keep his rifle and shotgun.

Sources: Wikipedia, New York Times

September 7 | Karen Blixen

April 17, 1885 - September 7, 1962: Age 77

Better known today by her pen name Isak Dinesen, Karen Blixen contracted syphilis from her first husband, Baron Blixen, whom she married in Africa in 1914. Syphilis was at the time widely considered an incurable disease, although it wasn’t really, and for the rest of her life Blixen attributed her considerable health problems to it, although her doctors could find no trace of it in her after the 1920s.

The treatments for syphilis in early 20th century Africa included mercury and arsenic. It is likely that these treatments are what caused a permanent mild loss of sensation and reflex in her legs. She also suffered from chronic, intense abdominal pain. Nobody really knew or knows to this day what was causing the pain, but it plagued Blixen for her entire life. Her pain was so intense and frequent that by 1945 she had some of her spinal nerves severed surgically. It didn’t help; her symptoms returned.

In 1953 Blixen’s most famous short story, Babette’s Feast, was published in the Ladies Home Journal. It’s beautiful story whose climax describes in deep, sensuous, loving detail the preparation and consumption of an extraordinary meal, and the profound, magical effect the meal has on a community. It is a beautiful story and if you haven’t read it, go find it now and do so, or at least watch the 1986 film — best do both. This story the most vivid and soulful description food I have ever read.

By 1955 she had a third of her stomach removed to treat an ulcer. She visited America in 1959 and spent part of her 3 months there having in intravenous infusions. In her final years she was able to eat almost nothing, and weighed less than 80 pounds. She died of malnutrition.

Sources: Karen Blixen - Isak Dinesen Information Site, Wikipedia