Mount Everest as Metaphor: Respect the Goddess

I have always been an avid student of subcultures - small, but passionate groups of people who pursue a single-minded interest. In the past few years, I have enjoyed reading books and watching documentary films about the people who are obsessed with climbing Mount Everest. The culture of Mount Everest may also be viewed as a mirror microcosm of the paradigm shift in our economy - the very rich completely rule over everyone else and have little regard for the safety or success of the lower classes. Mount Everest brings the wealthiest climbers from Western culture to be served by the very poor Nepalese climbers who make very little per year and have no health or life insurance.

Mount Everest is a Goddess

Westerners view Mount Everest as the highest point on our Planet Earth. They want to climb it and to reach the summit for bragging rights and to conquer the world. The Nepalese have a very different view of Mount Everest, a mountain that they call Sagarmatha, the Tibetans call it Chomolungma which translates to Goddess Mother of the Land. The people who are native to this region regard the mountain as a goddess. The Tibetan prayer flags that are ubiquitous in all Mount Everest photos are prayers to the gods and goddesses carried on the winds that inhabit these high altitudes. The native peoples who help wealthy Westerners climb this mountain feel that proper prayers and respect must be paid to the mountain to ensure a safe season. But in the past two years, it seems the goddess is not pleased.

Hillary Helped the Himalayas

In 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary were the first humans that we know of to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Both men refused to say who summited first, in true gentlemanly form, and Hillary spent much of his wealth giving back to the community at the bottom of Mount Everest. The Himalayan Trust was established in 1960 to establish schools and hospitals for this rural and underserved population. Sir Edmund Hillary was a class act who respected the people who aided him up the mountain.

The Poor Serve the Wealthy

The Tibetan Sherpa people have lived at high altitudes for so long that their bodies have evolved to be able to survive at higher elevations than most without oxygen. This makes them well-suited to carry heavy packs for us flatlander Westerners. These Sherpas can make up to $8,000 in the three-month climbing period every year that brings climbers to conquer Everest. While that may be a lot of money for this part of the world, if a Sherpa dies on the mountain there is no life insurance for families left behind, no retirement plan, and no medical insurance for injuries sustained on the job.

Avalanches on Everest

In the past two years, two powerful avalanches on Mount Everest have claimed lives and altered the geography of the most coveted mountain. In April 2014, a powerful avalanche killed 16 Nepalese guides who are referred to by most as Sherpa. It was during 2014 that a climber was hoping to be the first to wingsuit fly off of Mount Everest. It's part of the reason the Discovery channel was there to record the avalanche in 2014. April 25, 2015--a 7.8 earthquake rocks Tibet and causes another avalanche on Mount Everest claims the lives of 19 would be climbers, including Google icon Dan Fredinburg. The death toll in Tibet at this writing is approximately 6,300.

The Cost of Climbing Everest

While the news media loves to cover the tragedies of lost lives on Mount Everest, what is more difficult to explain to people is the cost of climbing this sacred mountain. The license fee (which goes to the Nepalese government) is $11,000 per person. Nepalese climbers pay $750 per person. Most online guides quote a cost of between $28,000-$85,000 per person to climb Mount Everest. And if you know all the perks, that's a great price. The Sherpas are the people who carry Everything for you. They have tents set up for you at the various base camps. They carry your oxygen. They make tea for you and bring it to your tent. Ladders and guide ropes are already set in place for you by Sherpas and others who have come before you. If there are broken ladders or guide ropes, the Sherpa will replace them. All you have to do is haul your body up the mountain if you are able.

The Goddess is Angry

Some might say that the avalanches on Mount Everest are the product of global warming. I would like to suggest that The Goddess is angry. The people who live here and who enable wealthy Westerners to reach the top still live mostly in poverty and with few opportunities for success. The mountain is full of dead bodies, empty oxygen tanks, and frozen feces and urine. Wealthy Westerners may party at the top of Mount Everest while the underclass who made it possible still live in poverty. I will also suggest that it is arrogant and presumptuous to think that you can wingsuit fly off the top of Mount Everest and survive. It is disrespectful to the goddess and she deserves better. It is time to clean up the mountain and re-think the whole climbing process. How can a better system be set up so that the symbiotic relationship between Western climbers and native people can be more profitable for the Sherpa? Sir Edmund Hillary had the right idea by building schools and hospitals but there is still more work to do. The great goddess, Mother of the Land, deserves better, and people need to respect the planet as a whole.

Library Hero, Administrative Villain: J. Edgar Hoover

Most people remember J. Edgar Hoover as the first head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who kept extensive information and files on people whom he disliked, distrusted, or who caught his attention in a negative way. But did you know that before J. Edgar Hoover became a top law enforcer he was an information science professional, a librarian?

J. Edgar, the Movie

As a graduate student in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee, a professor who was introducing themselves and pitching their class talked about the film "J. Edgar." Released in 2011, this movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover showed the evolution of this controversial man from humble librarian to head of the FBI.

J. Edgar the Cataloger

John Edgar Hoover (1895-1972) was born and spent his entire life in Washington, D.C. His first job at age 18 was as a messenger at the Library of Congress (LOC). Hoover also worked in the cataloging department. Later in 1951, Hoover wrote in a letter, “[T]his job …trained me in the value of collating material. It gave me an excellent foundation for my work in the FBI where it has been necessary to collate information and evidence.” In excellent homage to Hoover and the Library of Congress, there were some scenes for the film "J. Edgar" shot on location in the LOC.

J. Edgar Hoover, 1940 Census Clues

Just for fun, I looked at the 1940 United States Census to see if there was any information of interest there that would give a snapshot into who he was. According to that document, J. Edgar Hoover lived at 413 Seward Square in Washington D.C., age 45, single, and living alone. Perhaps the most interesting fact on this page is:

"Weeks Worked in 1939: 52"

"Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 99"

I did a researcher double-take when I saw the number of hours that Hoover says he worked in the previous week. I went and looked at the handwritten document to find that '105' was recorded, crossed out, and replaced with '99.' So J. Edgar didn't take vacations and if he worked seven days a week he worked fourteen hours per day. Hoover was a workaholic. It is also interesting to note that J. Edgar Hoover lived in the same house his entire life.

Empire of Information Evil

If Hoover had remained at the Library of Congress the world might be a very different place. While Hoover excelled at collecting, codifying, and storing data, he used his information skills for evil. Hoover was a petty, malicious, controlling person with an unhealthy dose of paranoia, as many people may be who have dark secrets to hide. The full legacy of J. Edgar Hoover may never fully be known as his faithful secretary, Helen Gandy (pictured below), spent weeks destroying Hoover's personal files that he is said to have used to blackmail politicians, police, players, and Presidents.

Note: All photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Famous Librarian Writers

The famous folks below were at one time librarians but became famous for other reasons. While Beverly Cleary and Andre Norton were professional librarians, others, (such as Proust) dabbled in the library sciences.

Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Author, printer, inventor, diplomat, postmaster, scientist, and activist, it's hard to pigeon-hole Franklin into one category.In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and at the age of 21, Franklin started a subscription-based library where members pooled cash to buy and read books.

Photo: Portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph-Siffrein Duplessis (1725-1802), c. 1785, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Madeline L'Engle (1918-2007)

American writer Madeline L'Engle is best known for writing the classic young adult novel "A Wrinkle in Time" (1962), she also served as a volunteer librarian at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City in 1965.

Photo: Courtesy of Square Fish Books.

Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)

In 1913, painter, writer, and artist Marcel Duchamp took a position as a librarian at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, France, where he also studied physics and math.

Photo: Marcel Duchamp playing chess (photo by Kay Bell Reynal, 1952)

Beverly Cleary (1916-)

Children's book writer Beverly Cleary graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle with a library degree in 1939. Some of Cleary's books include "Beezus and Ramona"(1955), "Ribsy" (1964), and "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" (1965).

Photo: Photo of Beverly Cleary, State Library Photograph Collection, 1851-1990, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov

Hypatia (b. circa 350-370 - 415)

"There was a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia, daughter of the philosopher Theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time. Having succeeded to the school of Plato and Plotinus, she explained the principles of philosophy to her auditors, many of whom came from a distance to receive her instructions. On account of the self-possession and ease of manner which she had acquired in consequence of the cultivation of her mind, she not infrequently appeared in public in the presence of the magistrates. Neither did she feel abashed in going to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her extraordinary dignity and virtue admired her the more." ~ Socrates Scholasticus, from his Ecclesiastical History

Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia Commons. An actress, possibly Mary Anderson, in the title role of the play Hypatia, circa 1900.

Lao Tsu (b. circa 571 BCE - Zhou Dynasty)

This philosopher and poet of ancient China, Lao Tsu is said to have held a position as a scholar in the Imperial Archives. The most famous work most often attributed to Lao Tsu is the Tao Te Ching.

Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia Commons. A painting of the Daode Tianzun ('the Heavenly Lord of Dao and its Virtue'), the deified Laozi, one of the supreme divinities of Daoism.

Andre Norton (1912-2005)

Born Alice Mary Norton in Cleveland, Ohio, she went on to become a highly successful science fiction writer. But before she became a famous, award-winning author, she worked in the Cleveland Library System for 18 years. During World War II and from 1940-41, Norton worked as a special librarian in the cataloging department of the Library of Congress.

Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia Commons. Cover of Voodoo Planet by Andrew North, artist Ed Valigursky; half of Ace Double #D-345 (1959)

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

While many consider French writer Marcel Proust to be one of the greatest authors in the history of literature, he was a terrible librarian. An asthma sufferer who appears to have been coddled by wealthy parents, Proust secured a volunteer position at the Bibliotheque Mazarine in 1896 and then went on sick leave without ever having worked a day. Oh, Proust. How adorable, frustrating, and funny.

Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia Commons. Marcel Proust in 1900.

It is interesting and strange to me that there are not more famous writers who were once librarians as librarians may have access to the best books and resources. Great readers make great writers, but not all librarians, it seems, are great writers. Alas.