THE NEW YORK TIMES, July 19, 1939

* Donn Fendler goes missing
* Mount Katahdin in Maine
* Rye, New York 12 year old boy 

The top of 20 has a small one column heading: "Rye Boy Lost On Climb" with subhead. (see images)
 I suspect this is one of the few publications to report this particular event as other titles in our inventory do not.
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day. Complete in 40 pages, light toning at the margins, nice condition.

Background: The disappearance and survival of 12-year-old Donn Fendler stands as a definitive moment in American folklore and wilderness survival history, symbolizing the resilience of the human spirit during the tail end of the Great Depression. When Fendler vanished on July 18, 1939, near the 5,268-foot summit of Mount Katahdin, it triggered one of the largest and most publicized search-and-rescue operations in New England history, involving over 500 volunteers, the National Guard, and the newly formed Maine State Police. The event captivated a nation weary of economic hardship, providing a rare "miracle" narrative when the barefoot and emaciated boy emerged nine days later near the East Branch of the Penobscot River, having followed the simple survival logic of tracking water downstream. His ordeal—marked by hallucinations, extreme exposure to Maine’s notorious black flies, and a loss of 15 pounds—not only led to a personal meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who awarded him the Army & Navy Union Medal for Valor, but also fundamentally shaped Maine's cultural identity. The subsequent book, Lost on a Mountain in Maine, became a permanent fixture in regional education, teaching generations of children the importance of composure and survival tactics in the face of nature’s indifference.