Norwegian Adventurer Heyerdahl Dies

AP | DOUG MELLGREN

[jrherreid]

Kon-Tiki was one of my favorite books as a boy. Who wouldn't want to spend three months on a raft and wrestle sharks?

Totally awesome.

[blam]

RIP old friend.

[billorites]

Thor Heyerdahl certainly captured my attention as a (manly) male born in 1955.

I wonder if any freepers read stories written by Richard Halliburton.

"The Flying Carpet" was a favorite of mine.

[KellyAdmirer]

"Kon-Tiki" was everywhere when I was a kid in the 1960s. Basically required reading. In fact, it was one of the very first books I can specifically recall.

[zarf]

To Thor Heyerdahl:

God be with you sir....many dreams of my youth were inspired by you.

[kayak]

I enjoyed the Halliburton stories, too .... and Kon Tiki was one of my favorite books as a child.

And I'm female ... :-)

Enjoying that type of story is more related to a love of reading and an environment that encouraged learning about the world than to gender.

[backhoe]

kat, my parents knew "Tor," and I met him when I was a very small boy, years & years ago. Very sorry to see this, and may he laugh and run again, in a better World.

[LostTribe]

>RIP old friend.

Indeed. They don't make them like that anymore. I read all his books when I was a boy and they have continued to be an inspiration. I've also been to the museum in Oslo.

[yooper]

Tusind Takk, Thor. Valhalla awaits....

[isiti]

I too remember reading about the voyage of Kon Tiki as a boy. Again, Thor, thanks for the dreams and visions of adventure.

[billorites]

I've got two 5 and 9 year old boys.

I'd like to find contemporary adventure writers who correspond to Halliburton and Heyerdahl that we could read together.

(the three year old girl already gets Cosmo)

[monkey]

Heyerdahl conceived his theory during a year spent on the Pacific island of Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas group.

He took his wife, and they befriended some former cannibals.

His life was like an adventure book - he got backing for Kon-Tiki after visiting the Explorer's Club in NY. He was one of those rare individuals who cause almost any man to think, "Now, why didn't I live my life that way?".

[kayak]

Gee, I wish I could help you out. My kids are grown and the grandbabies are just a wee bit young for that sort of thing yet.

Things have changed so much ..... probably the nearest equivalent today is something like "Crocodile Hunter" .... :-(

[snopercod]

A man of a bygone era where theories were to be proven, and life was to be lived first hand, not vicariously sitting in a darkened room watching TV.

He will be remembered along with Marco Polo, Columbus, DeSoto, Lindbergh, Lewis & Clark, Dick and Jeanna Yeager and all the others.

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. The great creators, the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors stood alone against the men of their time.

--Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

May he have a safe voyage and fair winds.

[snopercod]

Not so contemporary, but I recommend The Tracker, by Tom Brown.

[jwalsh07]

I loved that book as a boy and it contributed to my life long love of the sea.

[Bob J]

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[2Trievers]

He's off to another wonderful adventure! &;-)

[to the core]

Kon-Tiki was my favorite as a child. Amazing story.