Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (TPB, 2007, autographed by David Oliver Relin, $5, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
"In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school." And he did. Actually he returned and built 55 schools. He wrote this book to tell his story, and to make his readers aware of the need for schools in Pakistan. What makes this story so unusual was Mortenson's lack of anything needed to build a school. He had no money, no job, no contacts, and no building know-how, and yet the schools got built.
Fast forward to the present time, and you find Mortenson in the midst of troubles. He was sued for mismanagement of funds. That case was settled when he paid one million dollars and left the charity he had started. Now he is again being sued, this time in civil court. Two readers claim some of his story was made up to get people to donate to his charity. The suit asks him to refund money to anyone who bought the book. The publisher claims it is a matter of freedom of speech.
I find the legal thinking regarding all this to be fascinating. It would seem that it doesn't matter if he told the truth or not. The book was based on his recollections, and it doesn't matter if they are accurate or not. What matters is whether what he wrote harmed anyone. The children at the schools certainly were not harmed. What about people who bought the book, or who donated money? Even if some parts weren't the whole truth, I still can't see the harm. The schools still got built. To me the question is why people ever expected a guy with no money, no job, no contacts and no skills to be able to run a mega-charity.
What do you think? Look for this book on the new non-fiction table. (L-Pak)
