A Real-Life ‘Eat The Rich’ Story?

In his new book, author Carl Hoffman puts the pieces together and comes to a gruesome conclusion: multimillionaire heir Michael Rockefeller was eaten by headhunters.

It’s a horrific scenario.

A young man, scion of one of America’s most storied families, struggles through an incredible 18-hour swim in the Arafura Sea. Finally, shore is at hand.

So, it seems, is rescue. A nest of eight canoes floats at the mouth of the Etwa River, each filled with strong-armed men who can pull him to safety. His last strength brings him into their midst.

A 10-foot spear plunges into his chest while he is still in the water. Soon he will be gutted through a deep cut from anus to neck, his limbs cooked over an open fire and greedily eaten.

In the new book, Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art, veteran journalist Carl Hoffman unveils significant evidence that 23-year-old Michael Rockefeller died at the hands of headhunters, and not at sea, late in 1961.

Hoffman, a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler, traveled twice to New Guinea, all but embedding himself in the local tribes for months, to uncover the grim tale.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.