"Well, George, we finally knocked the bastard off."
-Sir Edmund Hillary's first words (to friend George Lowe) upon returning from the summit of Mount Everest.
Sadly, one of my personal heroes from my childhood died of heart failure Friday. He was eighty-eight.
I always admired Sir Hillary for a number of reasons, not the least of which for his having stood as far off the surface of the earth as anyone can possibly do, and he did it first. What stuck with me most was that his conquest took place when he was 33 years old. How amazing is that?
We will miss you, Sir Edmund. Thank you for knocking the bastard off.
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