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Widely revered in the Gulf Islands for her work as a Trustee for the Islands Trust, Margaret Griffiths was married to George Griffiths and was the stepmother to Blair Griffiths. She has revived their adventures, via taped accounts, diaries, letters and reports, for Morning Light: Triumph at Sea & Tragedy on Everest, a family story of high emotion that celebrates the human spirit and its need to explore.
In the spring of 1982, 68-year-old George Griffiths sailed solo from Britain to Barbados, where he was met by his two sons. The younger son, Mark, joined his father to sail home to Canada by way of the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast. Mark's older brother, Blair, flew home to begin work as a CBC cameraman documenting the Canadian Mount Everest Expedition Team, with its 26 climbers, 30 Sherpas and more than 200 porters. Six months later, Blair Griffiths was dead, crushed by a six-storey wall of Everest ice. Through heroic efforts the team finally managed to recover Blair's remains, and there followed a heartbreaking cremation on a pyre of rhododendron boughs. Eventually two of the team succeeded in summiting the mountain. In 1985, George Griffiths trekked with his grandson to Everest Base Camp, where Blair's ashes were laid, in order to say goodbye. In this place of awe and majesty among mountains and sky, father and adventurer found peace.
Margaret Griffiths previously served in the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the Second World War. During the Battle of Britain, she worked on the first experimental radar. In BC she was employed in social work followed by a position of Staff Counsellor for BC Hydro and Power
Author's City: Galiano Island
Date Of Birth: 26 September 1920
Place Of Birth: Grimsby, England
Arrival in Canada: 1953
Arrival in BC: 1953
BOOKS:
MORNING LIGHT - Triumph at Sea & Tragedy on Everest 2008
Travel / biography
978-1-897522-08-0
6 x 9, 288 pages, colour & b/w photos
[BCBW 2008] "Outdoors" "Travel" "Galiano"
In the spring of 1982, 68-year-old George Griffiths sailed solo from Britain to Barbados, where he was met by his two sons. The younger son, Mark, joined his father to sail home to Canada by way of the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast. Mark's older brother, Blair, flew home to begin work as a CBC cameraman documenting the Canadian Mount Everest Expedition Team, with its 26 climbers, 30 Sherpas and more than 200 porters. Six months later, Blair Griffiths was dead, crushed by a six-storey wall of Everest ice. Through heroic efforts the team finally managed to recover Blair's remains, and there followed a heartbreaking cremation on a pyre of rhododendron boughs. Eventually two of the team succeeded in summiting the mountain. In 1985, George Griffiths trekked with his grandson to Everest Base Camp, where Blair's ashes were laid, in order to say goodbye. In this place of awe and majesty among mountains and sky, father and adventurer found peace.
Margaret Griffiths previously served in the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the Second World War. During the Battle of Britain, she worked on the first experimental radar. In BC she was employed in social work followed by a position of Staff Counsellor for BC Hydro and Power
Author's City: Galiano Island
Date Of Birth: 26 September 1920
Place Of Birth: Grimsby, England
Arrival in Canada: 1953
Arrival in BC: 1953
BOOKS:
MORNING LIGHT - Triumph at Sea & Tragedy on Everest 2008
Travel / biography
978-1-897522-08-0
6 x 9, 288 pages, colour & b/w photos
[BCBW 2008] "Outdoors" "Travel" "Galiano"
Articles: 1 Article for this author
Morning Light: Triumph at Sea & Tragedy on Everest
Article
Margaret Griffiths' Morning Light: Triumph at Sea & Tragedy on Everest (Rocky Mountain $29.95) is a family story of high emotion that celebrates the need to explore.
Based on taped accounts, diaries, letters and news reports, it's about George Griffiths who, at age 68, in 1982, sailed solo from Britain to Barbados, where he was met by his two sons.
The younger son, Mark, joined his father to sail home to Canada by way of the Panama Canal and up the Pacific Coast, while Mark's older brother, Blair, flew home to begin work as a CBC cameraman documenting the Canadian Mount Everest Expedition Team, with its 26 climbers, 30 Sherpas and more than 200 porters.
Six months later, Blair Griffiths was crushed to death by a six-storey wall of Everest ice. Through heroic efforts the team finally managed to recover Blair's remains, and there followed a heartbreaking cremation on a pyre of rhododendron boughs. Eventually two of the team succeeded in summiting the mountain.
In 1985, George Griffiths trekked with his grandson to Everest Base Camp, where Blair's ashes were laid, to say goodbye to his lost son.
The foreword to this inspirational memoir is provided by veteran photographer and climber Pat Morrow.
Revered in the Gulf Islands for her work as a trustee for the Islands Trust, Galiano Island's Margaret Griffiths was married to George Griffiths and was the stepmother to Blair Griffiths.
978-1-897522-08-0
[BCBW 2009]
