Eustace Conway is an American naturalist and the subject of the book The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth M. Gilbert is an American author, essayist, short story writer, biographer, novelist and memoirist. She is best known for her 2006 memoirs, Eat, Pray, Love, which as of December 2010, has spent 199 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, and was also made into a film by the same...

 and the subject of an early episode of the weekly radio show This American Life. He is the owner of 1000 acres (4 km²) Turtle Island Preserve near Boone

Boone, North Carolina

Boone is a town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, United States. Boone's population was reported as 17,122, as of 2010...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

.
At the age of 12, Conway lived in the woods for a week. At 17 he moved out of his parents' home entirely so that he could live in a tipi

Tipi

A tipi is a Lakota name for a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins and wooden poles used by the nomadic tribes and sedentary tribal dwellers of the Great Plains...

 in the woods.