" 'There was something fascinating about him,' explains Mrs. Westburg, seated at the polished walnut table where McCandless dined that night. 'Alex struck me as much older than twenty-four. Everything I said, he'd demand to know more about what I meant, about why i thought this way or that. He was hungry to learn about things. Unlike most of us he was the sort of person who insisted n living out his beliefs' (67)"

• Many people who met McCandless were very interested in how anyone could live the way he did. This woman was very impressed with his ability to follow his beliefs and his desire to learn.