Edmund Hillary RIP

Posted by Joseph Allen McCullough Jan 14, 2008

I never knew much about Edmund Hillary before I married a mountain freak. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he was the first man to climb Everest, but only as the answer to a trivia question. I knew nothing about the man.

That all changed when I married a woman who was interested in mountains, in their look, in their challenge, in their history. I soon realized that Hillary was the mountaineer. Along with Tenzing Norgay, Hillary had conquered the last of the earth's great challenges. He had stood on the top of the world.

But the more I learned of Edmund Hillary, the more I became impressed with the man. After Everest gave him fame and wealth, he turned around and used that fame and wealth to help Everest. First, he worked tirelessly to help the Sherpa people who lived in the shadow of the mountain. He helped build schools and medical clinics. Then, he used his position to demand that people clean up the mess that was beginning to pile up all over Everest.

On the day that Edmund Hillary died, my wife said she felt like she had lost a friend. I understand that. Just because we have never met a person, never actually spoke to them, does not mean they are not important in our lives. Edmund Hillary was important in a lot of people's lives. To some he was a hero because he climbed a mountain. To me, Edmund Hillary was a hero because he used what the world had given him to make a positive difference in a lot of people's lives.