Class Note 1963
Issue
After 40 years of research and writing about mountain climbing Tom Holzel believes that maybe—just maybe—he and his colleagues are on the brink of discovering the whereabouts of the remains of Andrew Irvine and with that the key to the mystery of whether or not Irvine and George Mallory were actually the first to conquer Everest. Mallory and Irvine began the last part of their ascent on June 8, 1924. They were never to be heard from again. In 1953 Everest was finally conquered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Tom began his quest for Mallory and Irvine in 1971 and concluded that Irvine’s body lay on a snow terrace at 27,000 feet on Everest’s north face. In 1979 a Chinese climber reported discovering the body of an “English dead,” which reinforced Tom’s belief. Tom organized a search expedition in 1986, but after 67 days on the mountain, including 10 days at 21,000 feet, the group had to turn back because of heavy snow and high winds. Mallory’s body was found in 1999 but the mystery remains as to whether or not he made it to the top. Many believe a vest-pocket Kodak camera believed to be carried by Irvine may hold the answer. Tom put together an Andrew Irvine Search Committee, which analyzed photos, including a high resolution 1984 aerial shot with a powerful microscope, digital camera and special software. According to ScientificAmerican.com, in January the group reported their photos revealed an anomaly on the terrain roughly 1.8 meters long consistent with the description relayed by the Chinese climber in 1979. Now the group seeks to raise $125,000 to go to the spot where they believe Irvine is. They have recruited Thom Pollard and Jake Norton, says Tom, “both of whom helped search Mallory’s body when he was found in 1999.”
Dan Muchinsky, our Class Connections chair and long-time mini-reunion host, broke his hip skiing and had a partial hip replacement. To wish him well, contact mary.b.barnes@dartmouth.edu. Earlier Dan and Terry Russell hosted some 30 members from the class of 2013 to answer questions about our undergraduate days. Imagine two phones for a whole dorm. Amazing but true. Bill Subin, who won a landmark case for a New Jersey trooper charged with vehicular homicide in a car chase, was interviewed on truTV, formerly CourtTV, about a similar case involving a Tennessee sheriff in an unmarked patrol car. John Merrow and wife Joan Lonergan will move to New York this summer when Joan, director of a California girls’ school, assumes the headship at Hewitt, a K-12 girls’ school in Manhattan. New Yorker Barry Linsky escaped the severe weather to ski at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Anika Noni Rose, daughter of John Rose, co-hosted the 41st NAACP Image Awards live on Fox TV with actor Hill Harper.
Tom Jester, chair of our 50th reunion, June 7-9, 2013, and Ed Mazer, yearbook chair, issued their first reports on what looks to be our most exciting event yet.
—Harry Zlokower, 60 Madison Ave., Suite 910, New York, NY 10010; (212) 447-9292; harry@zlokower.com
May - June 2010
After 40 years of research and writing about mountain climbing Tom Holzel believes that maybe—just maybe—he and his colleagues are on the brink of discovering the whereabouts of the remains of Andrew Irvine and with that the key to the mystery of whether or not Irvine and George Mallory were actually the first to conquer Everest. Mallory and Irvine began the last part of their ascent on June 8, 1924. They were never to be heard from again. In 1953 Everest was finally conquered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Tom began his quest for Mallory and Irvine in 1971 and concluded that Irvine’s body lay on a snow terrace at 27,000 feet on Everest’s north face. In 1979 a Chinese climber reported discovering the body of an “English dead,” which reinforced Tom’s belief. Tom organized a search expedition in 1986, but after 67 days on the mountain, including 10 days at 21,000 feet, the group had to turn back because of heavy snow and high winds. Mallory’s body was found in 1999 but the mystery remains as to whether or not he made it to the top. Many believe a vest-pocket Kodak camera believed to be carried by Irvine may hold the answer. Tom put together an Andrew Irvine Search Committee, which analyzed photos, including a high resolution 1984 aerial shot with a powerful microscope, digital camera and special software. According to ScientificAmerican.com, in January the group reported their photos revealed an anomaly on the terrain roughly 1.8 meters long consistent with the description relayed by the Chinese climber in 1979. Now the group seeks to raise $125,000 to go to the spot where they believe Irvine is. They have recruited Thom Pollard and Jake Norton, says Tom, “both of whom helped search Mallory’s body when he was found in 1999.”
Dan Muchinsky, our Class Connections chair and long-time mini-reunion host, broke his hip skiing and had a partial hip replacement. To wish him well, contact mary.b.barnes@dartmouth.edu. Earlier Dan and Terry Russell hosted some 30 members from the class of 2013 to answer questions about our undergraduate days. Imagine two phones for a whole dorm. Amazing but true. Bill Subin, who won a landmark case for a New Jersey trooper charged with vehicular homicide in a car chase, was interviewed on truTV, formerly CourtTV, about a similar case involving a Tennessee sheriff in an unmarked patrol car. John Merrow and wife Joan Lonergan will move to New York this summer when Joan, director of a California girls’ school, assumes the headship at Hewitt, a K-12 girls’ school in Manhattan. New Yorker Barry Linsky escaped the severe weather to ski at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Anika Noni Rose, daughter of John Rose, co-hosted the 41st NAACP Image Awards live on Fox TV with actor Hill Harper.
Tom Jester, chair of our 50th reunion, June 7-9, 2013, and Ed Mazer, yearbook chair, issued their first reports on what looks to be our most exciting event yet.
—Harry Zlokower, 60 Madison Ave., Suite 910, New York, NY 10010; (212) 447-9292; harry@zlokower.com