Sir Edmund Hillary, 20 July 1919 - 11 January 2008

A quiet, dignified man who, long ago, made the world gasp with wonder, passed away today. Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE, conqueror of Everest, died at the age of 88, surrounded by his family in Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand.

Hillary was bound to be defined by that moment of greatness on 29th May 1953, and in truth the rest of his life scaled much less remarkable peaks. So let us remember him now for his spirit as a mountaineer-adventurer.

Posted by Guessedworker on Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 11:33 PM in Obituaries
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Posted by Guessedworker on January 11, 2008, 11:30 AM | #

Top story on the Telegraph site:

Sir Edmund Hillary to receive state funeral

New Zealand is to cast aside protocol and stage a state funeral for Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Everest, who died, aged 88.

Such occasions are extremely rare in a country that tends to eschew pomp and ceremony, traditionally being reserved for governors-general or prime ministers who die in office.

The irony, as all those who knew Sir Edmund agree, is he would have rolled his eyes and asked what all the fuss was about.

June, Lady Hillary, his widow, said the family had agreed to the offer from the government of a state funeral because they knew how much he meant to his fellow New Zealanders.

... New Zealand has been plunged into mourning for its favourite son, with the main state-owned television channel screening documentaries about his life and achievements.

Across the country, flags on public buildings fluttered at half-mast in the breeze of a sunny summer’s day.

In Antarctica, the national ensign was lowered at New Zealand’s Scott Base, which Sir Edmund founded just ober 50 years ago.

A joint memorial service is being held in the chapel of the neighbouring American-run McMurdo Station.

Posted by James Bowery on January 11, 2008, 06:49 PM | #

Its appropriate that that nation of pioneers—surely among humanity’s best—would so honor their representative due to his accomplishment at humanity’s frontiers. New Zealand continues to produce prodigies vastly out of proportion to its population. Other than the Iowa of my youth, there is no place, and among no peoples on Earth I would rather live but for the disastrous immigration policies imposed by its government hostile to such precious heritage. Tragic that it is far easier for an Israeli to emigrate to New Zealand than it is for an Iowan like myself (as I found out when trying to emigrate there during the 1980s).

Posted by Fred Scrooby on February 10, 2008, 01:37 AM | #

Requiescat in pace

“When asked by Sir Edmund Hillary what he can do for the Sherpas, an elderly Sherpa man answered, ‘Our children have eyes but they can’t see. Without education they are blind.’

“Sir Ed then started building schools in Solu Khumbu region. Along with them, he built hospitals, roads and bridges among many other things. Lives for Sherpas haven’t been the same since Sir Edmund Hillary came into their lives.

“We thank you, Sir Ed.”

The poem read by Sir Edmund in the video:

The Mountain

I am here beside my brother, Terror.
I am the place of human error.

I am beauty and cloud, and I am sorrow;
I am tears which you will weep tomorrow.

I am the sky and the exhausting gale.
I am the place of ice. I am the debris trail.

I am as far as you can see.
I am the place of memory.

And I am still a hand, a fingertip, a ring.
I am what there is no forgetting.

I am the one with truly broken heart.
I watched them fall, and freeze, and break apart.

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