Seventy-three years ago, a Boy Scout from Rye, N.Y., got separated from his hiking group on Mount Katahdin.

What happened to Donn Fendler over the next nine days is a durable tale of perseverance and survival that has captivated generations of kids.

“Lost on a Mountain in Maine” was required reading in Maine schools for decades. Now the story has been retold as “Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness” a graphic novel co-written by Fendler, now 85, and Lynn Plourde of Winthrop, with illustrations by Ben Bishop. The story endures, and its survival in our imaginations is almost as amazing as young Donn’s escape from the woods.

The new version might look like a comic book, but Donn was no superhero — quite the opposite. Almost every move he made was wrong, from his decision to keep walking when he got lost to losing his only pair of pants.

But this ordinary boy all on his own stays with us. He never gave up, when giving up probably would have cost him his life. He kept going, even when he didn’t know what to do. It’s a story every generation needs to hear and hear again.

 


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