i just heard this on msnbc.
his memory will be eternal.
Meh. Tenzing Norgay got there* first.
<size=1>“there” meaning death</size>
George Mallory said “Because it’s there”, not Edmund Hillary.
But I was sad to read of his passing. He always struck me as a great guy, they definitely talked about him in NZ when I was down there.
Had an opportunity to hear Tenzing Norgay’s son Jamling speak, that was nice.
Yeah, but why else would he climb it?
We did it the easy way, flew around it from a special tour flight out of Kathmandu. But I can say with absolute certainty that we flew around it because it was there.
What a tremendous man. First to scale Mt Everest, and first person to stand at both poles, in addition, too.
He didn’t shy away from helping those who aided his fame, either, and worked to help people in the Himalayan region.
RIP, Sir Edmund, that mold is done broke, I fear.
Wall-to-wall coverage on our telly news. As it should be. I heard when someone told me this afternoon – news of a death which made me say, “Oh, no …” But, as I’ve just emailed someone, that beekeeper certainly had a good innings.
Good on you, Sir Ed. New Zealand is very, very proud of you, and always will be.
All the signs point to someone who put together accomplishment and capital-c Class. He achieved fame through his feat, and then he was able to use that fame to try to give back to the Nepalese, and later on even to raise a voice about the gratuituous risking of lives on the climbs.
There will always be *something * that just “is there”, daring and challenging us. And I can only hope that there will always be some of us who’ll rise to it in such style.
I didn’t realize until I’d read an article on his passing how much humanitarian work he did in Nepal. He seems like a really classy guy.
Men like him and the adventuring triumphs that they achieved are short supply these days. More’s the pity.
He considered his humanitarian work as a far more important acheivement then climbing Everest.
His work in Antartica was also very important.
A GREAT man, who will be sorely missed by all New Zealanders. He “knocked the bastard off” and won a place in our hearts (and on our $5 note) forever.
We’ve been calling him a Taonga (treasure) for years. There’s a Japanese system of listing people as ‘living treasures’ - it’s a rare honour. Sir Ed was the only living person who was pictured on our money - literally living treasure.
During the late '90’s, it was noted that Sir Ed’s phone number was listed in the phone book.
He’d never seen the point in having an unlisted number.
His wife said that most people were very respectful when they called.
He was all class.
Sir Ed’s passing took up much of our news highlights on the telly tonight. Eighty-eight is not all that old nowadays, but he managed to pack a whole lotta life into every single year. Vale Edmund.
Just as an aside, all the media sources mentioned the earlier deaths in a plane crash in Kathmandu in the '70’s of his first wife and teenage daughter and the success of a later marriage, but there was no mention at all of his son Peter who went on to become a successful mountaineer and adventurer in his own right. I’m curious as to why he was not included in the ‘bio’. Were they estranged? Anybody throw any light onto this??
Don’t know for sure, it may just be that they’re avoiding any semblance of cheap publicity or preference to any particular family member at the expense of the others.
There doesn’t appear to be any breach Peter Hillary - Wikipedia
The best guess I can come up with is: Everything is being handled with the utmost courtesy to the family, no-one is being singled out for attention because they’ve asked to grieve privately. There have been no interviews with any family since his passing. The second marriage is being mentioned because in his last recorded interview, he joked about being lucky in having two great marriages.
The news said Peter was overseas at the moment. When he climbed Everest a few years back Ed seemed all happy. Apparently Peter has taken up much of the fund raising work.
I’m sure we will hear from Peter very soon but none of Sir Ed’s family have made any statement yet. We “love” him but he has an actual family who are feeling gutted today.
I can understand why the family are reluctant to front the media of course, but, even given that Peter is o/s at the moment, it still seemed strange to me that in OUR news coverage/s the mere mention of his name was noticeably absent…especially since he has regularly graced our screens and radio waves with his own daring exploits and charitable works.
On preview…
That makes a LOT of sense. Thanks maggenpye.
And in New Zealand, that works?!!
Evidently Edmund Hillary is not the only one in the country with class.
Tris
I’m just surprised all the “Hillary Dead” headlines aren’t attracting more attention.
Well hell. I didn’t check the Herald website today, and I feel a long way from home right now. maggenpye called him a taonga, and he truely was. A great man of tremendous mana.