Harley is the author of Lost in the Valley of Death, about the life and (probable) death of my friend and former podcast guest, Justin Alexander. Pico Iyer, one of the best living travel writers, described Harley’s book as, “One of the most haunting books of recent times. … Somerset Maugham’s classic Razor’s Edge updated to the Age of Instagram.”
My conversations with Justin are here and here. His Instagram feed is here.
Harley on Instagram.
Find me on Instagram or Twitter.
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Intro music: “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range; “Border Country,” by the Paper Stars.
I really appreciated this conversation, and it looks like Harley’s book is going to have a lot of influence in the future –if not as big as “Into the Wild” then at least a mention in Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries.
It was also interesting to notice the anger in your voice when chastising Justice’s carelesness. And after listening to this episode twice I began to listen to one of the old interviews with Justin in which you are encouraging people to follow him on Instagram during the intro; and given how at some point in this conversation you mention how Justin was in a way killed bu his dependence to Instagram, perhaps that in itself is the crux of your anger towards him.
What I am trying to say, is that at some point you’re going to have to forgive yourself for being luckier than Justin when you trekked through the same dangerous routes of Southeast Asia and India. And your sponsoring of his social media does not mean you are indirectly responsible for his demise. What happened happened and the guy made his choices, good or bad.
Paraphrasing one of my favorite movies, sometimes people who try to drink from the marrow of life end up choking on the bone.