A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy. ~Edward P. Morgan

Some people seem to be born without the fear gene.  They jump out of airplanes, dive with sharks, explore treacherous slot canyons and climb the world's highest peaks as readily as I drive to the local Starbucks for a latte with (gasp!) 2% milk.  Although I do love to ski, which my neighbor with his newly broken shoulder can attest is not guaranteed to be safe, and I DO drive in California, mostly I spend my time trying NOT to be in danger.  Greg Mortenson falls into the former category.

Three Cups of Tea, One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, by Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, is an amazing story.  I know that AMAZING is a very overused word, but I promise it definitely applies here.  Greg's whole life has been out of the ordinary. Growing up in Tanzania with missionary parents, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro at age 11 and attempting to summit the second highest mountain on earth in 1993 are just of the few extraordinary experiences that shaped his life.  But it was that failed attempt on K2 that would send him on an even more perilous and impossible journey.

If you don't know, (like me!), K2 is located on the border of Pakistan and China with a summit of 28,251 feet.  It is not quite as high as Everest, but much more deadly, taking at least 77 lives with only 302 people reaching the top.  Exhausted and ill on his descent, Greg literally wandered off the beaten path and into a remote Pakistani village, forever changing his life and the lives of his new friends forever.  To pay back the kindness he received from the village of Korphe, and struck by the desperate need of their children, he promised to come back and build them a school.

This is where Three Cups of Tea really begins.  Against insurmountable odds Greg Mortenson keeps his promise and so much more.  And if I tell you more, it will just ruin the book!  Read it, and if you want to know more about Greg Mortenson and what he's up to now, go to www.ikat.org.  (Type it into your web address line.  I haven't set up the click-on-the-link thing yet.)  It's pretty AMAZING.  

"Thrilling...proof that one ordinary person,with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world."  Tom Brokaw