Just One Word: "Hi"

 

Just One Word: “Hi”

People who count this sort of thing estimate that on average we speak about 16,000 words each day. Not Chris Knight, however. Over the course of 27 years he spoke just one word: “Hi.”

Here’s the story. Knight is the subject of Michael Finkel’s fascinating book, The Stranger in the Woods. It tells how Knight became a hermit, living in a campsite in a forested area of Maine, and for nearly three decades lived undetected within shouting distance of hikers and kayakers on nearby ponds.

He survived that state’s brutal winters in his campsite, which went undetected until he was finally caught breaking into the kitchen of a nearby camp for special needs children. Knight repeatedly broke into the camp and into scores of cabins in the area for food and other items useful for his survival: everything from propane tanks to flashlights and batteries. It’s estimated that he committed about a thousand burglaries before being caught.

So what about the word “Hi”? Knight made a point of avoiding people. Only twice during those years did he encounter anyone. Shortly before his arrest, he came across a father-son-grandfather trio who’d been fishing—but no conversation took place. The only other time he inadvertently made contact with anyone was when he and a hiker saw each other. Each said “Hi” before going their way. The hiker was oblivious to the fact that he’d run into the elusive hermit who by then had attained legendary status in the area.

Knight ‘s story is masterfully told and includes thoughtful explorations of aloneness and loneliness; Knight’s motivation for withdrawing entirely from society, not even telling his family where he was; and how the legal system creatively dealt with this iconoclastic man who just wanted to be alone. And wordless.

He almost succeeded.

[300 words]