Marty Rafter

Famed adventurer Marty Rafter first gained international acclaim for saving a family of Swiss tourists from a grizzly bear attack in Denali national park in 1996. A lifelong pacifist, he was able to subdue the animal without violence by drawing on a technique he learned from the Yaqui Indians, a group he lived amongst while working on a pilot project for an Israeli defense contractor. Ultimately, the renown he gained from this act created a deep personal torment which drove him drown his feelings of inadequacy in a potent strain of black tar heroin called "Persian". Eventually, with the help of a group of defrocked Franciscan nuns calling themselves the "Fallen Angels", he was able to get sober. He has since committed his life to documenting his adventures, and lives with his wife and family in the Midwest. He blogs about his past, punk rock and purgatory at rafterspurgatorio.com.