Mountain Song

Sir Edmund Hillary, who may have lived as an unassuming beekeeper, conquered Mount Everest and became one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers.

And now he's dead. He was 88.

Hillary reached the top shortly before Queen Elizabeth's coronation, and was knighted for his achievement. While he gained fame and worldwide acclaim for his climb, the New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal. He spent decades setting up schools and health clinics in the homeland of Tenzing Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953.

Only after Norgay's death did Hillary settle the question of who actually reached the summit first (hint: it was Hillary). White man gets the credit again!

In tribute, Jane's Addiction and "Mountain Song"