PeTeR ZuCKeRmAN
Continues from Pg. 55
a horrifying story… but in other ways it is re-
ally an inspiring story. People just pull off res-
cues and do a courageous thing. It’s really hard
to believe it really even happened except that it
did! I felt proud of the people that did this work.
People are saving lives on mountains. That’s a lot
braver than what I was doing.
JK: What’s the biggest lesson you learned by tell-
ing this story?
PZ: you know, when I was in these villages
where people live off…it’s not a money econo-
my, it’s less than couple of dollars a year in some
cases. In a way they have a lot of things we don’t
have. They really know their neighbors. They
have a lot more time to sit and chat and drink
tea. Play games. And in some ways it is a really
wonderful way to live and I think "Gosh, I’d love
to live in place like that. Boy, shouldn’t I know
my neighbors and care more about my commu-
nity and just do good things for the sake of do-
ing good things?"
And then on the other hand I think, "My gosh, I
am so lucky. I can walk down the street and buy
a cup of coffee that costs more than the people
I was interviewing will make in years. I am not
going to die of a contagious disease. I have tre-
mendous opportunities." We are given an op-
portunity here. We need to do something with
that. It made me really want to do more, and do
more good things for the world and be more
cognizant of how nice we have it.
JK: People are going to want to know what your
significant other (Portland Mayor Sam Adams)
thought about you traipsing around the globe
working on this project for so long.
PZ: He was supportive.
I honestly try not to tell
g
my loved ones too much about what I’m doing,
who aren’t directly involved, because it would
just stress them out. It’s better to say “Hey, I
made it home safely. Let me tell you where I
went” afterwards rather than saying this is where
I’m going. I really didn’t give Sam the details. But
he was supportive.
JK: A writer’s life.
PZ: A writer’s life.
BuriedInTheSky.com
Jonathan Kipp summited mt. Fuji outside Tokyo in 1984 and
has no desire to climb another mountain. He is the publisher
of Just out. and a new contributor to The Huffington Post.
Reach him at jonathan@Justout.com
September 2012
Justout.com
59