November 10, 2014
Liz Hawley and her famous blue VW, both well preserved, in Kathmandu. (Eric Simonson)
Elizabeth Hawley, Nepal’s iconic reporter, sets the record straight on the most tumultuous decades in Nepal’s political history.
Ask any accomplished Himalayan mountaineer, “Who is the preeminent keeper of summit facts?†and they will answer, “Elizabeth Hawleyâ€. Since the early 1960s, Hawley has filed detailed reports on some 80,000 ascents – a massive catalogue that has been published as the “Himalayan Databaseâ€, a virtual Bible for all world-class climbers.
What is less well known is that Hawley was also compiling irreplaceable chronicles of the political upheaval that was taking place in Nepal from 1988 to 2007. From the 1989 uprising resulting in the emergence of a constitutional monarchy…to the beginning of the Maoists “People’s War†in 1996…to the infamous 2001 Palace Massacre – which took the lives of the king and all his immediate family…to the end of the ten-year conflict, which ultimately resulted in the abolishment of the monarchy, Elizabeth Hawley was there to unflinchingly document the facts. Now, for the first time, those chronicles will soon be available to the public in a published version: “The Nepal Scene, Chronicles of Elizabeth Hawley, 1988-2007”, a two-volume set.
Please help us publish Elizabeth Hawley’s Chronicles – the website link is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/732122400/the-nepal-scene-chronicles-of-elizabeth-hawley-198 – only live for 30 days.
We thank you in advance for your generous donation – the two volumes will be ready next spring. Any surplus funds raised will be shared between the Himalayan Trust Nepal and Himalayan Database.
Eric Simonson