Hillary Medalist "Papa Tony" Freake has Died

[Seth Sicroff]

I'm sorry to regret to inform you of the death this past Sunday of Anthony John "Papa Tony" Freake.

In 2008, Tony Freake became the third winner of the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal, awarded "for remarkable service in the conservation of culture and nature in mountainous regions." In collaboration with students from Eton College and other groups, Tony helped the villagers of Phortse (Khumbu, Nepal) construct a school, teacher's house, clinic, gompa, monks' house, and youth center. He installed a micro-hydro plant and water line, and was working on an adult literacy program and cottage industry.

Coincidentally, I was just wrapping up an article on Tony's work when I got the sad news from his wife Sheila. The article is currently linked to the top photo on http://WanderingEducators.com -- or you can go directly to the article itself.

http://www.wanderingeducators.com/best/stories/participatory-tourism-climber-adopts-village.html

A couple of weeks ago I did another article for WanderingEducators.com; it was about a trekker who discovered the joys of sponsoring orphans. Please have a look:

http://www.wanderingeducators.com/best/stories/participatory-tourism-nepal-trekker-sponsors-orphans.html

Seth Sicroff