Harry McNish - Carpenter aboard Endurance

[IrieMon]

Interesting article in today's Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_McNish

Always loved the "advertisement" from Shackelton:

MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.

Sounds like a marriage proposal...... (except the honour and recognition part..... )

Disclaimer..."No trace of the supposed advertisement has come to light."

Have "Endurance" on the Kindle, just need to find the time.

[Britches]

I read Endurance back in high school, may be time to read it again. I don't remember a lot about McNish, but it was a long time ago...Sounds like an interesting guy. Always makes me a little sad when someone with a story like that "died destitute in the Ohiro Benevolent Home in Wellington". Who knows. Maybe thats the way he wanted it?

Side note - I was a figure skater and I can remember my coach telling my not to sit on the ice because I was going to get 'piles'. I never knew what that was, but thank god Wikipedia has links to useful pages that explain piles with useful photos to boot. Would anyone else like to finish my lunch?

[VALIS]

There are at least four "Endurance" books available.

"South: The Endurance Expedition" was written by Shackleton (with help), and is certainly worth reading.

"The Endurance", was written by Endurance captain Frank Worsley himself and published in 1931. It's been a while since I read this one, but I do remember enjoying it.

Then there is "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing. This was published in 1959, and is perhaps the best-known of the endurance books.

Finally, "The Endurance" was written by Carolyn Alexander, and was published in 1998. This is shorter, has a lot of photos, and contains some material not available to Lansing in 1959. This isn't a coffee table book -- it's well-written and contains some real scholarship. I recommend it, as well as Lansing's book.