I'll Call You in Kathmandu : The Elizabeth Hawley Story

by McDonald, Bernadette

• ISBN13: 9780898868005
• ISBN10: 0898868009
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-22
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books

Summary

Elizabeth Hawley has been the unofficial chronicler of every detail of every expedition mounted from Nepal in the Himalaya for more than four decades - even though she has never been to Everest Base Camp, and is not a climber. It is her assessment that puts the significance of a climb in perspective. What would motivate this single American woman, the product of a Midwest upbringing, to travel solo in 1960 to one of the most remote and enigmatic places on the globe? How did she command the respect of climbers from around the world? Although the intensely private Ms. Hawley is an enigma even to those who know her well, in this book she reveals a complex personality, with a rich personal life. She is a great supporter of the Himalayan Trust foundation established by Sir Edmund Hillary. The Foundation builds schools, hospitals, bridges, waterworks, and airports in Solu Khumbu, the region of Mount Everest.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	7	(6)
Foreword	13	(116)
1 ENIGMA	15	(8)
2 ENCYCLOPEDIC MIND	23	(10)
3 EDUCATING MISS HAWLEY	33	(16)
4 THE "FORTUNE" YEARS	49	(12)
5 HALFWAY TO ASIA	61	(10)
6 NEPAL BECKONS	71	(8)
7 A NEW LIFE	79	(18)
8 LEARNING THE ROPES	97	(14)
9 A FRIEND FOR LIFE	111	(18)
10 A BREAK WITH THE PAST	129	(8)
11 GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS	137	(14)
12 THE HORSE RACE	151	(22)
13 MANY CLAIMS, MANY AMBITIONS	173	(20)
14 LIVING ARCHIVE	193	(14)
15 CHRONICLER OR HISTORIAN?	207	(8)
16 CHANGING OBJECTIVES	215	(12)
17 QUEEN OF EVEREST	227	(6)
18 IT'S NEPAL	233	(12)
Bibliography	245	(3)
Index	248

Excerpts

"In the post-World War II era, when few women lived life on their own terms, a young Elizabeth Hawley left her job as a researcher for Fortune magazine in New York and set out to travel the globe. Nepal - exotic, remote, on the cusp of entry into the modern world - captured her imagination. In 1960 she returned to Kathmandu, single and alone, and over the next four decades built a life that even she could not have envisioned." "Initially reporting on politics and culture for Reuters and Time Inc., she quickly became part of the Kathmandu scene, an eclectic cast of mountaineers, adventurers, politicians, and entrepreneurs, ranging from Sir Edmund Hillary to Nepalese royalty, from Colonel Jimmy Roberts to Reinhold Messner, from Boris Lissanevitch to Babu Chiri. But the golden age of Himalayan climbing had dawned and soon Hawley found her place in it: a historian revered as the final word on mountaineering achievements on the roof of the world. Hawley is still in Kathmandu today, carrying on her work well into her eighties." "How did this woman, who has never climbed a mountain or visited Everest base camp, become the top authority the climbing world depends on to document, authenticate, and evaluate the significance of expeditions in the Nepal Himalaya? How did she command the respect of elite mountaineers (some of whom report fear of her sharp tongue and relentless probing)? What are her personal views on the storied feats, notorious scandals, and great tragedies of Himalayan climbing history? What does she really think of climbing Iegends Hillary, Messner, Chris Bonington, Tomaz Humar, Ed Viesturs, and more? What of her rumored romances with famous climbers? What of the tumultuous political and social change she has witnessed in Nepal over more than forty years?" "Bernadette McDonald journeyed to Nepal to find out. In addition to extensive interviews with Hawley, celebrated mountaineers, and Kathmandu intimates, McDonald had full access to Hawley's meticulous records and correspondence. I'll Call You in Kathmandu reveals the intensely private Ms. Hawley as a complex individual with a rich personal life. It is fitting tribute to the woman who figures so prominently in the history of mountaineering."--BOOK JACKET.