PORT TOWNSEND — Mountaineer and author Leif Whittaker, who has twice scaled Mount Everest, will talk about his memoir, “My Old Man and the Mountain,” at the Port Townsend Library at 7 tonight.
Whittaker’s free talk will take place in the Carnegie Reading Room at the library at 1220 Lawrence St.
The memoir is his story of what it was like to “grow up Whittaker” in an extended family of accomplished climbers.
The youngest son of Jim Whittaker — the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest — and Dianne Roberts, he shares glimpses of his upbringing and how the pressure to climb started early on.
He depicts being a recent college grad, still living in his parents’ home and trying to find a purpose in life digging ditches, building houses and selling T-shirts to tourists until a chance encounter leads to the opportunity to climb Everest, just like his father did.
Leif Whittaker was born in Port Townsend. He reached his first major summit when he was 15 years old. He has since climbed many of the world’s tall mountains.
A writer and a photographer, his work has appeared in Powder magazine, The Ski Journal and Backcountry.
He lives in Bellingham and is a seasonal U.S. Forest Service climbing ranger on Mount Baker.
For more information, contact Keith Darrock at kdarrock@cityofpt.us.
Leif and Jim Whittaker on the trail to Mount Everest Base Camp in 2012. (Dave Hahn)
