But because of his government position, Punke cannot give interviews about the book. Federal ethics rules prohibit him from any activities that would be "self-enriching" or could be seen as an abuse of his post. He was not able to comment for this article. He could not even attend the film's premiere in Hollywood in December because he was in Nairobi, negotiating a global trade deal.
His surprising path started with his fascination with the historical West. Growing up in Torrington, Wyoming, he learnt to fly-fish and built his own rifle. His parents, both teachers, took him and his brother hunting and fishing.
He went to Cornell Law School and worked in the White House under then US President Bill Clinton as director for international economic affairs, serving on the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. He later took a job as a partner in the Washington office of the law firm, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.
He got the idea for The Revenant about 17 years ago, while working at the law firm. He was on a plane reading a non-fiction book about the fur trade, his wife Traci said. He came across a few lines about Hugh Glass, a trapper who was mauled by a grizzly bear in 1823, then dragged himself over hundreds of miles of wilderness to confront the men who abandoned him.
Punke started researching the story and decided to write a novel about Glass. He woke up around 4.30 each morning to write for a few hours before work.
The movie rights were optioned by Warner Bros in 2001, before the book was even sold, but the production never got underway.
Punke then wrote two non- fiction books, Fire And Brimstone, about a 1917 mining disaster, and Last Stand, about a 19th-century conservationist's effort to save the buffalo. Eventually, he was offered the ambassador position at the WTO and the family moved to Geneva in 2010.
The Punkes never expected the movie to come this far. "There were some frustrations along the way," Traci said. "We were familiar with the bureaucracy of D.C., not so much Hollywood. We were like, if it ever gets made, it will be a miracle."
NEW YORK TIMES
- The Revenant is available at Books Kinokuniya at $19.26. The movie is screening at cinemas.
