"The Quiet Man......."

He was written about in his homeland as the 'Quiet Man'.....

I have been remembering, and musing, over his life this last week... An adventurer needing little description who passed from these elements on January 10th.....

He is a member of that very small group of those who have reached the highest point on our mother earth... With the special symbolism that this meant on the 29th of May, 1953...

He was also known with reverence as the 'Tall Man', and 'Burra Sahib'...

There are many cultures in our world that give such persons names other than their own out of distinct respect... There are some cultures too who do not name such a person when talking to, or about them, as these individuals have become more than their 'name'... What they have accomplished and how they choose to lead their lives is beyond the name now... Now their way is more of a guiding image, a symbol, of what things could be like, of what we each could become... It is said that by doing this, the person is then remembered even more clearly and their life takes on new depths of meaning...

Such would seem the case for this Quiet Man... A person, who did not believe he was much different than you or I... Only that he had been at the right place, at the right time, and with a strong friend and brother of the rope...

Over twenty years ago I found the Tall Man's book entitled: "From The Ocean To The Sky", and discovered his musings on the nature of love for adventure... Adventures of climbing, of exploration, of rivers, of cold, and especially of living among different peoples...

I would follow his story closely after that and was truly inspired...

I was so intrigued by what he meant when the Quiet Man said; "The heroes I admired in my youth seemed to possess abilities and virtues beyond the grasp of ordinary men...", and yet years later he reflected upon how, "I discovered that even the mediocre can have adventures, and even the fearful can achieve...".

Here was a restless, ordinary adventurer, who was speaking of coming to terms with himself... In doing this and through his actions, this Quiet Man would strike a bell within each of us, that we not so much hear, but rather feel, deep inside ourselves...

The Tall Man's actions would resonate around the world and for decades after as symbolism immeasurable...

The Tall Man has been saying to us: 'If I can, then you can... and if you can... look what we all may do...'. His adventure achievements made history... yet his Giving Back efforts are legion... and his Passing Forward messages so potent...

A man himself very fond of quiet times for musing he wrote: "It is not the mountain we climbed I want to be remembered by, it is if I helped out, and what did I share".

He said also so unassumingly that; "I have had the world lie beneath my clumsy boots and seen the red sun slip over the horizon... I have had more than my share of excitement, beauty, laughter and friendship...".

Sometimes it is the quiet ones who teach us the most about real accomplishment, sustained meaning, humility, and gratitude...

The Tall Man and his partner The Tiger Of The Snows, broke trail for us... They set upon a course that may in hindsight be easy to see... but it is a path so challenging to follow...

I believe the Quiet Man would enjoy knowing of the legacy of this challenge he still invites us with in the spirit of adventure.....

DSD