<P> In January 1993, Jon Krakauer published McCandless' story in that month's issue of Outside magazine . He had been assigned the story and had written it under a tight deadline . Inspired by the details of McCandless' story, Krakauer wrote and published the more extensive biographical book Into the Wild (1996), about McCandless' travels . The book was subsequently adapted into a 2007 film directed by Sean Penn, with Emile Hirsch portraying McCandless . That same year, McCandless' story also became the subject of Ron Lamothe's documentary The Call of the Wild (2007). </P> <P> Christopher Johnson McCandless was born in El Segundo, California . He was the first child of Wilhelmina "Billie" McCandless (née Johnson) and Walter "Walt" McCandless . The couple subsequently had one more child, a daughter named Carine . McCandless also had six half - siblings from Walt McCandless' first marriage, who lived with their mother in California . Author Jon Krakauer later speculated that Walt's transition between these two marriages may have deeply affected and profoundly shaped McCandless' world - view . </P> <P> In 1976, the family relocated to Washington, D.C., and settled in suburban Annandale, Virginia, when McCandless' father was hired as an antenna specialist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); McCandless' mother worked as a secretary at Hughes Aircraft . The couple went on to establish a successful consultancy business out of their home, specializing in Walt's area of expertise . </P> <P> McCandless graduated from W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1986 . He excelled academically, although a number of teachers and fellow students observed that he "marched to the beat of a different drummer ." McCandless also served as captain of the cross-country team, where he would urge teammates to treat running as a spiritual exercise in which they were "running against the forces of darkness...all the evil in the world, all the hatred ." </P>

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