As Told at The Explorers Club More Than Fifty Gripping Tales Of Adventure

by Plimpton, George

• ISBN13: 9781592280353
• ISBN10: 1592280358
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

For more than a century, The Explorers Club has been the meeting place for some of the most daring adventurers on the planet. It's a legendary oasis, where a man just back from the Gobi Desert might kick back and, over some port, have a chat with a fellow off to Bandung. Here then, are some of the best tales ever swapped at that capital of adventure, including: Anthony Fiola on being in close quarters with a polar bear Charles Lindbergh on his famous flight Felix Reisenberg on the Arctic Anne Keenleyside, Ph. D. on cannibalism Roald Amundsen on the explorer Stefansson Mervyn Cowie on hunting killer lions Jean-Marc Boivin on hang-gliding Curtis and Kathleen Saville on oceanic rowing E. W. Deming on Sitting Bull's mysterious death It's some of the finest writing on some of the most hair-raising journeys ever made, all selected by editor George Plimpton, himself a member of The Explorers Club.

Author Biography

GEORGE PLIMPTON, the originator of "participatory journalism," is the founder and editor of the renowned literary magazine The Paris Review. His books include Paper Lion (page TK), The Bogey Man (page TK), Open Net (page TK), Shadow Box (page TK), and Mad Ducks and Bears (page TK). He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Africa
The Ghosts of Ngulia	p. 3
The Lady and the Coelacanth: Remembering the Zoological Discovery of the Century	p. 15
Martin and Osa Johnson: Exploration Was Their Way of Life	p. 27
Memories of the Last Crusade	p. 35
There Is Such An Animal	p. 47
Witchcraft Among the Zulus	p. 57
Alaska
A Day I Should Have Stayed in Bed	p. 69
It Bears Telling	p. 75
Arctic
Arctic Ghost	p. 83
At Close Quarters with a Polar Bear	p. 95
The Compass That Talked	p. 99
The Last Resort: Cannibalism in the Arctic	p. 107
On Stefansson	p. 115
Rescued from the "Death Trap" of the Arctic	p. 123
The Royal Road to Humdrum	p. 135
Asia
1990 American Everest-Lhotse Expedition	p. 151
Cheetah Hunting	p. 167
The Elephant-Headed Deity Ganesh	p. 173
The Elephant that Walked to Vienna	p. 177
A Gobi Adventure	p. 183
Hang-Gliding on the K-2: An Emergency Descent of 7,600 Meters	p. 187
Mongolian Interlude	p. 195
Over the Khyber to Kabul	p. 211
Through the Wilderness of Northern Korea to the Long White Mountain	p. 221
Traversing Arabia's Rub'al Khali	p. 227
Woman, You Are a Beast	p. 239
Yeti Expedition	p. 247
Ruler of the Bush	p. 253
Atlantic Ocean
Rowing Across the Atlantic: Husband-Wife Team Proves it Can be Done	p. 261
Canada
Pagans of the Pasquas	p. 269
Central America
Carmelita	p. 275
Eyes in the Night	p. 281
Men Who Can't Come Back	p. 289
The Capture of an Ant Army	p. 295
Pacific Ocean
The Fire-Dog of Asu	p. 303
Juah Tada	p. 313
Pitcairn Island After 200 Years: Will the Settlement Survive?	p. 319
Rowing Across the Pacific: One Stroke at a Time	p. 327
United Kingdom
Biscay Gales	p. 343
Wings in the Storm	p. 359
United States of America, Lower Forty-Eight
Bullwhacking Across the Plains	p. 365
Buried Alive	p. 379
The Death of Sitting Bull	p. 383
A Leap in the Dark	p. 387
Lost Inside the Earth	p. 391
Youthful Adventure	p. 401
Horizons
Exploration Defined	p. 411
Hunting Wildlife with Pen and Palette	p. 415
Lowell Thomas Milestones	p. 421
On Exploration	p. 425
Remembering Lowell Thomas	p. 431
Permissions Acknowledgments	p. 447
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