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The life of a remarkable woman
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/us/barbara-hillary-dead.htmlHere is a life well lived:
Barbara Hillary, the first black woman on record to reach the North Pole, which she did at the age of 75, and the first to reach the South Pole, at the age of 79, died on Saturday in a hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens. She was 88. Her death was announced on her website. A post on her Twitter account said her health had been declining in recent months. She had breast cancer in her 20s and lung cancer in her 60s.
It was not until 1986 that any woman had reached the top of the world, with Ann Bancroft, a physical education teacher and explorer from Minnesota, becoming the first. The first black man there was Matthew Henson, who, along with Robert E. Peary, set foot on the North Pole in 1909.
Ms. Hillary had retired from a 55-year career as a nurse when, seeking adventure, she went dog-sledding in Quebec and photographed polar bears in Manitoba. She then learned that no African-American woman had ever made it to the North Pole and challenged herself to become the first, though she had no funding and no organization behind her and had lost 25 percent of her breathing capacity from surgery for her lung cancer.
The expedition would require her to ski, which she had also never done before. “It wasn’t a popular sport in Harlem,” where she had grown up, she told The Seattle Times in 2007. In preparation for the trek, she took cross-country skiing lessons and hired a personal trainer. She started eating more vegetables, increased her vitamin intake and worked out with weights. And she raised the necessary $25,000, mostly through donations, for equipment and transportation.
.. ..
As a New School student Ms. Hillary majored in gerontology and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the subject before becoming a nurse. In Far Rockaway she founded the Arverne Action Association, which sought to improve life in that neighborhood. She also founded The Peninsula Magazine, which covered the Rockaways, and was its editor in chief.
In addition to working as a nurse, Ms. Hillary sometimes drove a taxi, Deborah Bogosian, a friend, told 1010 WINS radio in New York. She also had an appreciation for “archery, guns and knives, big trucks and big dogs,” Ms. Bogosian said, and grew roses and tomatoesIn 2007 Ms. Hillary shared with The New Yorker some of her tips for living a good life: “One, mind your own business; two, maintain a sense of humor; and three, tell an individual to go to hell when it’s needed.” And she had this bit of advice for New School graduates when she spoke at their commencement: “At every phase in your life, look at your options. Please, do not select boring ones.”
It was not until 1986 that any woman had reached the top of the world, with Ann Bancroft, a physical education teacher and explorer from Minnesota, becoming the first. The first black man there was Matthew Henson, who, along with Robert E. Peary, set foot on the North Pole in 1909.
Ms. Hillary had retired from a 55-year career as a nurse when, seeking adventure, she went dog-sledding in Quebec and photographed polar bears in Manitoba. She then learned that no African-American woman had ever made it to the North Pole and challenged herself to become the first, though she had no funding and no organization behind her and had lost 25 percent of her breathing capacity from surgery for her lung cancer.
The expedition would require her to ski, which she had also never done before. “It wasn’t a popular sport in Harlem,” where she had grown up, she told The Seattle Times in 2007. In preparation for the trek, she took cross-country skiing lessons and hired a personal trainer. She started eating more vegetables, increased her vitamin intake and worked out with weights. And she raised the necessary $25,000, mostly through donations, for equipment and transportation.
.. ..
As a New School student Ms. Hillary majored in gerontology and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the subject before becoming a nurse. In Far Rockaway she founded the Arverne Action Association, which sought to improve life in that neighborhood. She also founded The Peninsula Magazine, which covered the Rockaways, and was its editor in chief.
In addition to working as a nurse, Ms. Hillary sometimes drove a taxi, Deborah Bogosian, a friend, told 1010 WINS radio in New York. She also had an appreciation for “archery, guns and knives, big trucks and big dogs,” Ms. Bogosian said, and grew roses and tomatoesIn 2007 Ms. Hillary shared with The New Yorker some of her tips for living a good life: “One, mind your own business; two, maintain a sense of humor; and three, tell an individual to go to hell when it’s needed.” And she had this bit of advice for New School graduates when she spoke at their commencement: “At every phase in your life, look at your options. Please, do not select boring ones.”
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I confess I'd never read about Barbara Hillary before.
