Sam Keith

Who is Sam Keith?

Sam Keith was an American author. His most notable work was the 1973 best seller One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey in which he edited the journals and photographs of his friend Richard Proenneke's solo experiences in Alaska. In 2014, Keith's lost manuscript First Wilderness: My Quest in the Territory of Alaska was published.

Keith and Proenneke met while working on the Naval Air Facility Adak in 1953, and became friends. They shared a love of hunting and fishing. During later discussions, Keith suggested that he take Proenneke's journals describing the time he spent building a cabin on the shores of Twin Lakes, Alaska, and turning it into a book. Keith wrote One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey based on his life-long friend’s journals and photography. Re-released in 1999, it became a best seller and won the National Outdoor Book Award. Book excerpts and some of Proenneke's 16mm movies were used in the popular documentary "Alone in the Wilderness", which continues to air on PBS. Both men passed away in within a month of each other in 2003.