Just ran across this one:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080629/NEWS/806290389/1101

From June 28 to July 25, you can find me blogging over at whythebike.com as my family and I bicycle across the country to share about my new book, The Expeditionary Man. Once the tour is over, I’ll be back blogging on richwagnerwords.com.

Successful Everest expeditions have a leader working behind the scenes to build unity amongst team members. Given the headstrong personalities often attracted to mountain climbing, this is no easy task. But through weeks of constant effort, he establishes an environment of trust and cohesion for the team. He teaches them to belay, or attach a fixed rope to another climber to protect each other against a fall. By the time the team approaches the extreme altitudes of Everest, they must be able to work together, depend on each other, and trust one another with their lives—knowing that there’s another person on the end of the 150-foot rope who is willing to risk life and limb for them. In Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer puts it like this, “Roping up in this fashion is a serious and very intimate act.” Climber Jochen Hemmleb adds, “When you know you have to rely on another person for your own safety, and he upon you, you learn a level of trust that simply doesn’t exist very often in the normal world.” Read more on my Amazon Blog »

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It just depended on who you were talking to … Charles Francis Adams was a prominent political figure during the mid-nineteenth century. Politics was in his bloodline—he was, after all, the grandson of President John Adams. But it was also his passion. Armed with a Puritan’s work ethic and sense of duty, Charles believed his time and energy should be devoted to public service and government. His resume speaks to his devotion—Massachusetts state representative, state senator, vice presidential nominee, congressman, and U.S. ambassador to Britain during the Lincoln Administration. Charles was the father of four sons, but given his preoccupation with work, he was not around his family that much.

Read the rest of the article at New Man eMagazine »

Zondervan’s Inspire Blog recently has featured The Expeditionary Man. Here are links to the entries:

• “Wherever you are, be all there”. Read »
• God designed the soul of a man for adventure. Read »

My brother-in-law Mark lost his job last week. Like any other weekday, he arrived at his office at 8:25am, likely scanning his Blackberry on his walk across the parking lot to see what his busy schedule held for him. But instead of a day filled with meetings and customer calls, he was promptly ushered into a conference room, sat down by an HR rep, and summarily laid off. Thanks much, but we just don’t need you anymore. To Mark, the sudden loss was devastating—and not just for economic reasons. He loved that job. His view of who he is as a man was largely defined by that role—a vision scratched out forever by an accountant’s pen.

Mark is certainly not unique in his outlook. It’s common for a man to define himself in terms of what he does in his profession. I think of times when I introduce myself to a man at church or a social event. We will say our names to each other, and then the conversation inevitably turns to a mutual exchange of And what do you do?

Read the rest on my Amazon Blog »