Donn Fendler

Donn Fendler
Fendler in 1939
Born	Donn Charles Fendler (1926-08-29)August 29, 1926 Rye, New York, U.S.
Died	October 10, 2016(2016-10-10) (aged 90) Bangor, Maine, U.S.
Known for	Lost child found in Mount Katahdin
Spouse	Maryrose Connolly ​ (m. 1953)​
Children	4

Donn Charles Fendler (August 29, 1926 – October 10, 2016) was an American author and public speaker from Rye, New York. In July 1939 at the age of 12, he got separated from his family and became lost on Maine's Mount Katahdin. His disappearance launched a manhunt which became front page news throughout the nation and involved hundreds of volunteers. Donn survived for nine days without food or proper clothing, before following a stream and telephone line out of the woods near Stacyville, Maine. Fendler was dehydrated, covered with insect bites, and 16 pounds lighter than at the beginning of his odyssey, but otherwise unharmed. He credited his experience as a Boy Scout in helping him survive the ordeal.

Biography

Donn Fendler was born in August 29, 1926 in Rye, New York.

On July 17, 1939, 12-year-old Fendler was separated from his family during a storm near the summit of Maine's Mount Katahdin. His disappearance launched a manhunt which became front page news throughout the nation (NY Times, 26JUL1939), and involved hundreds of volunteers who went looking for him throughout Baxter State Park. Fendler survived for nine days without food or proper clothing before following a stream and telephone line out of the woods near Stacyville, Maine. He stumbled into a hunting camp 35 miles (56 km) from the place he had gone missing. Fendler was dehydrated, covered with insect bites, and 16 pounds (7 kg) lighter than at the beginning of his odyssey, but otherwise unharmed. He credited his experience as a Boy Scout in helping him survive by remembering that he should follow the stream downhill, by eating what he could find, and attempting to shield himself as best as possible during the frigid nights.

He then wrote a book following his journey, Lost on a Mountain in Maine, with help from Joseph B. Egan, which has become a Maine children's classic. Written from his perspective as a young boy, Donn tells his harrowing story from start to finish. He tells of experiencing hallucinations due to fatigue and hunger, as well as losing most of his clothing (including his pants and shoes, which he attempted to throw across a stream, only to watch them float away in the water). After his rescue, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented him with the Army & Navy Legion of Valor's annual medal for outstanding youth hero of 1939. Donn was feted with a parade in his honor, and featured in an article in Life Magazine. For almost seventy years he was called on to recount his story. On the 70th anniversary of the event, Donn was interviewed by the Bangor Daily News and said that he survived not only by eating strawberries and checkerberries, but by his "never-give-up attitude," his faith in God and his prayers. Mothers from all over the United States sent prayers to his mother by Western Union. "They did that in those days," he said. "I think it worked, because I am still standing here," he said. In September 1998, a map was published with the trail he'd followed.

In 1953, he married to Maryrose Connolly; the couple had four children.

In November 2011, his story was published as a graphic novel to reach a new generation of readers.

At the time of his death, Fendler had been living in Clarksville, Tennessee but spending his summers in Newport, Maine. Each fall he would visit schools in Maine to tell his story and answer children's questions about his experience on the mountain.

On July 25, 2014, the 75th anniversary of the day Fendler was finally found, Maine Gov. Paul LePage declared the day "Donn Fendler Day."

He died on October 10, 2016, in Bangor, Maine at the age of 90.

A film based on the disappearance and rescue of Fendler entitled Lost on a Mountain in Maine was released on November 1, 2024.