Sir Edmund Hillary, 83, smiles in front of a giant picture of Mount Everest at the Birendra International Convention Centre in Kathmandu May 29, 2003 
Sir Edmund Hillary, left, the lanky New Zealand mountaineer and explorer who with Tenzing Norgay, his Sherpa guide, won worldwide acclaim in 1953 by becoming the first to scale the 29,035-foot summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak, died on Jan. 11, 2008. He was 88.
Sir Edmund wrote or was a co-author of 13 books, including “No Latitude for Error” (1961, Hodder & Stoughton), about the Antarctic experience. He also formed a foundation, the Sir Edmund Hillary Himalayan Trust, which raised millions and built schools, clinics, airfields and other facilities for the Sherpa villages in Nepal. For many years, Sir Edmund was president of New Zealand’s
Peace Corps and an important voice in his country’s conservation efforts.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/wo...agewanted=2&hp)
May his soul rest in peace!