Remembering Sir Edmund Hillary

Sir Edmund Hillary, who died Jan. 10, became the first man to scale Mt. Everest largely through "happenstance," says Hamilton College history professor Maurice Isserman. However, Isserman - who has co-authored a history of Himalayan mountaineering to be published this spring - says Hillary had the character to withstand all of the public acclaim that came with the achievement and the generosity to never forget the Sherpas who helped him.