" A giant kauri tree has fallen"
When he died in sleep in Auckland this morning flags were lowered to halfmast throughout the country – and at Scott Base – and will remain so until midnight Saturday... Ever-modest, Hillary told one friend recently, "when I kick the bucket I don't want statues, I just want my work to continue in Nepal." But he'll have a state funeral. Everyone would agree it's the least the country could do for Ed. By MAX LAMBERT - NZPA. FRI 11 JAN 2008
A 2.3-metre (7.5 ft) bronze statue of Sir Ed was installed outside The Hermitage hotel at Mt Cook village, New Zealand, in 2003. It shows Ed looking up at his beloved mountains. I took the photograph during a visit to Mt Cook in the summer of 2005.Sir Edmund Hillary
Born 20 July 1919; Tuakau, North Island, New Zealand.Died 11 January 2008 (aged 88,Auckland, New Zealand was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 16 July 1953; a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 1987; and a Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) on 23 April 1995. Various streets, schools and organisations around New Zealand and abroad are named after him. A few examples are Hillary College (Otara), Edmund Hillary Primary School (Papakura) and the Hillary Commission (now SPARC). Hillary was name as one of the 100 most important people of the century by Time magazine
In 1992 Hillary appeared on the updated New Zealand $5 note; Hillary was the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote during their own lifetime.
To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest the Nepalese Government conferred honorary citizenship upon Hillary at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in Kathmandu. He was the first foreign national to receive such an honour from the Nepalese.
Obituary: Sir Edmund Hillary, a Kiwi colossus. By MICHAEL FIELD - Fairfax Media Friday, 11 January 2008
Quotes from Sir Ed.
6 comments:
Even growing up in Colorado, USA, Sir Edmund Hillary was my childhood hero. I was lucky enough to hear him speak once many years ago and felt extra lucky when my son who was an exchange student from Alaska to New Zealand got to have dinner with him. There is no doubt about it Hillary was one heck of a nice guy and the work he did made a difference in the world. Truly a great man has passed. It’s strange but I morn his death almost as if he was family.
A Great man. If in our own lifetime we achieve a fraction of what Sir Edmund Hillary achieved then thats still a hell of a lot!
Greg
Hobart Daily
Bicheno Daily
Love the first poster's comments. Currency is of interest to many people and this is a fine example.
We heard of Sir Edward Hillary's passing away on the Malaysian news too. We read about him in school when we were young! What a great person!
I've known his name and the reason he was famous for as long as I can remember. I too was sad to hear of his passing.
Yes, a wonderful and great man. Not only for his most famous act, but his ongoing humanitarianism.
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