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Jim Whittaker: John Meek Interview 2006
About this film
"My first encounter with Jim Whittaker was years ago when he came to speak at the grand opening of an REi store in the Washington D.C. area. Besides his great achievements in mountaineering, I was much impressed with his remarkable sense of humor. We met next at the American Alpine Club's Annual Meeting in the fall of 1999 in Arlington, VA. I asked Jim for an interview, but he said he was leaving for the airport. "Come to Seattle," he said, "and I'll talk to you." So in the first week of August, 2006, the mountain went to Muhammad. However, "Muhammad" does not live in Seattle, but Port Townsend -- a ferryboat ride and an hour-long drive away. Not only has Jim climbed Everest, he organized and led the first successful American expedition to climb K2. But perhaps Jim's most publicized climb was with Bobby Kennedy after the Canadians named a peak Mt. Kennedy after President Kennedy's assassination. Jim and Bob (I was press office manager for Kennedy's successful 1964 campaign for the U.S. senate in New York) climbed Mt. Kennedy in 1965 and formed a close bond, ending with Jim being at his friends bedside when he died after being shot in Los Angeles. In 1990, Kim led the historic Inter…
Directors & creators
John Martin Meek
Subjects
Jim Whittaker; World Climb for Peace; Everest; AAC; American Alpine Club; John Meek; Alpine; Mountaineering; Climbing; K2; American Alpine Library; Mt. Kennedy
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