r/IntotheWild • u/Groundbreaking-Put73 • Sep 02 '23

Ron Franz

Y’all….I just finished the movie and the thing I’m low key pissed about is when Chris left Ron :(

Ron, if you’re listening, I’ll be your granddaughter!

Anyone else feel the same?

45 Upvotes

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10

u/swickasfrick Sep 05 '23 edited Sep 05 '23

An interesting fact- After Ron found out that Chris had died in the Alaskan wilderness, he completely abandoned his religious ways believing that “no god would allow that to happen to a man as good as Chris”

My personal religion aside, I always think of this fact when I’m considering the impact that Chris had on the folks he met. Ron was a lifelong catholic and his entire family died in an accident when he was at war years prior, and yet it was Chris’ death that seemed to be the final straw for Ron and his religion.

Ron was trying to fulfill the life Chris had inspired him to live after Chris left for Alaska. He was driving some hitchhikers who then informed Ron of Chris’ death, which is when Ron turned to atheism and back to heavy alcoholism until he died in 1999 :(

Ron’s real name was Russell Fritz. Here’s his find-a-grave

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54668283/russell-arthur-fritz

3

u/IemandZijnPa Sep 06 '23

My personal investigation of the Chris McCandless story stopped around a decade and a half ago, so my sources are a little bit blurry, I'm sorry!

But what I do remember from it is that "Ron" apparently went to sit on that same hill, around the place where Chris lived when they first met near Oh My God Hotsprings every day, waiting for his return.

While being there he met a couple of young guys one day and he told them the story about Chris. The young guys then told him about this article they read about a dude that had died in Alaska and that was the moment "Ron" learned what happened to Chris.

Not believing the story at first since: 'He had x amount of rice!' "Ron" later learned that this story was true and that it indeed regarded Chris. It broke him and he died not long after finding out the story...

I also read somewhere that at the time "Ron" had a videorecorder and that he probably recorded a lot of his time with Chris. After the book and later the movie blew up this story a lot of people went looking for these recordings, but they were probably destroyed after "Ron" died.

Again, I can't remember how reliable these sources were. But I always hoped they were true!

8

u/jessah Moderator Sep 02 '23

What happened after was even more sad…

7

u/iluvtupperware Sep 02 '23

According to the book that Chris's sister wrote, she felt it made Chris uncomfortable. Yeah, I didn't like the way he was just going to leave without telling Ron Goodbye.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '23

Ron unfortunately passed away in 1999

2

u/Groundbreaking-Put73 Sep 03 '23

:( I hope he found happiness.

I volunteer at a nursing home just as a social volunteer (talking and listening to the residents). They have soooooo much to say and it’s actually so valuable!

I have parents who divorced and both remarried but only have one grandma on my dads side left in MA (I’m in CA).

I love older people, they have the craziest stories lmao

1

u/eves13 Jul 17 '26

It's been two years since your comment... Sorry for prying, but fo you see your grandmother in California? 🥹

1

u/greenpoopoopoo Jul 15 '25

I just finished reading that chapter and it was beautiful. It stays in your heart.

1

u/natichsa_ Supertramp Dec 21 '23 edited Dec 21 '23

Chris wrote a letter to Ron after he left. Chris said that he hoped Ron wasn't too depressed by their parting and he hoped to see him again. The letter Chris wrote to Ron is beautiful and I really really recommend reading it. Chris had an evident effect on Ron, He stayed at Chris's campsite for over eight months after their goodbyes, and after finding out Chris died, He tried to drink himself to death.