Bradford Angier

Bradford Angier (May 13, 1910 March 3, 1997) was a wilderness survivalist and proponent of back to earth living. He authored more than 35 books on how to survive in the wild and how to live minimalisticly off the land.

In 1947 Bradford and his new wife, Vena, were living in Boston Massachusetts. They had long romanticized the life of Thoreau and decided to move to Hudson's Hope, a small town in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, to live off the land. Once there, they found an old prospectors cabin. With the few tools and how-to books they brought with them, they were able to repair the cabin. Bradford then set about learning to hunt and gather wild food.[1]

He eventually started writing survival books. Vena was artistic and hand illustrated several of his books. The couple lived in Canada until the building of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace river near their home forced them to move. They moved to Cambria, California and built a house that was less than 1,000 square feet (93 m2).[2] For decades Angier and Calvin Rutstrum were the two most prominent "how to" authors on living in the wilderness.

In the 1970s Bradford and Vena returned to Hudson's Hope. In 1972 he wrote the book One Acre & Security in which he discusses how to live organically on only 1-acre (4,000 m2) of land. At this time he had become popular with the back-to-earth movement and was sought out by many people wishing to emulate his lifestyle. He was sometimes referred to as "Mr. Outdoors"[3]

Two chapters in his book, Wilderness Wife, were almost word for word copies of two chapters from the book The Forest by Stewart Edward White, which was published in 1904. There were no references made to White's book or even footnotes included which stated the text's source.

Bradford died in 1997, a few months short of his 50th wedding anniversary.

Bibliography

References

  1. At Home in the Woods: Living the Life of Thoreau Today By Bradford Angier Published 1985 Macmillan Pub Co ISBN 0-02-062140-X
  2. Newspaper article from Weymouth, Massachusetts, on Vena Angier turning 90. By Leeanne T. Stronach / Correspondent Wednesday, December 17, 2003
  3. One Acre and Security: How to Live Off the Earth Without Ruining It By Bradford Angier Published 2000 Willow Creek Press ISBN 1-57223-394-X