Carl Hoffman

"Savage Harvest: The Mysterious Disappearance of Michael Rockefeller--Solved"

Thursday, October 14, 2021, at 7:00 pm

Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU Texas

Co-sponsored by the Department of Mass Communication

Since 1961, the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller has intrigued and mystified people across the globe.  Did he drown?  Was he attacked by a shark or crocodile?  Or was he killed by natives?  In Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest, New York Times best-selling author Carl Hoffman provides a convincing answer.  His striking page turner was one of the Washington Post’s 50 notable books of 2014 and the number one non-fiction book of 2014 on Amazon.com.  To discover just what happened to the scion of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Hoffman traveled to New Guinea, learned Indonesian, and even lived with a tribe of former headhunters.  He argues that immersing himself into Asmat culture allowed him to learn the ultimate fate of Michael Rockefeller, a young man who traveled half-way around the world seeking primitive art, especially woodcarvings, and paid the ultimate price.  Hoffman is the author of two other books: The Lunatic Express: Discovering the World via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains and Planes; and The Last Wild Man of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure.  A prolific writer, Hoffman is a former contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler and Wired magazines.  His work has also been published in magazines ranging from Men’s Journal to the Smithsonian.