Russel Fritz ("Ronald Franz")

    
At the time of his meeting with McCandless, Russel Fritz was 80 years old and emotionally unstable. He had previously lost his wife and only son due to a drunk driver and had since been longing to offer the paternal advice for teenagers and adults he was never able to give to his son.
    Russel Fritz helped Chris to make his notorious belt inscriptions and even offered to adopt Chris as his grandson due to the strong bond formed between them; nevertheless, Chris, "uncomfortable with the request, dodged the question, 'We'll talk about it when we get back from Alaska, [Russ]" (54). 
    However, Chris never made it back from Alaska. One day Fritz drove some hitchhikers and began to ramble about "Alex" and his exciting plans for Alaska when one of the hitchhikers interrupted: "'Was his name Alex McCandless?' ... I hate to tell you this, mister, but your friend is dead. Froze to death up on the tundra" (60).

Photo taken by Christopher McCandless

     After dropping off the hitchhikers, Fritz said, "I renounced the Lord. I withdrew my church membership and became an athiest. I decided I couldn't believe in a God who would let something that terrible happen to a boy like Alex" (60); consequently, Fritz's drinking habits recurred until his death