The "Three Cups of Tea" guy stole pennies from my daughter: I should be outraged

I would love to be more offended by Greg Mortenson’s actions.  You likely have heard of him.  Best-selling author of Three Cups of Tea. Launched Central Asia Institute (CAI), a charitable foundation to raise money to build schools for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Became a national figure, commanded speaker fees and book advances.  People were inspired. Money was raised.

 

In fact, a few years back, my oldest daughter raided her piggy bank and hustled spare change from her parents to help fill “Pennies for Peace” jars her second-grade class donated to Mortenson’s foundation.  My wife, inspired by reading Three Cups of Tea and the opportunity to hear its humble yet inspirational author speak at a Boise church, wrote a check to Mortenson’s foundation.

 

Kumbaya and all that, right? Except, it turns out, the enterprise was built on a flawed foundation.  Essential “facts” were fudged (wasn’t really rescued by villagers, wasn’t kidnapped by Taliban).  Foundation’s successes were exaggerated.  Charity funds were mingled with Mortenson’s personal funds. The details were well-document in a recent 60 Minutes broadcast and online booklet by Jon “Into Thin Air” Krakauer, an early Mortenson supporter and donor to his foudnation.  See here and here.  Mortenson’s rather unsatisfying explanation is here.

 

Why am I not outraged?  Mortenson, after all, may have swindled pocket change from my little girl and he may have misled my wife into writing a check that in the end is insufficient to cover the printing and mailing costs of the promotion items we continue to receive from his foundation.  In fact, we received Mortenson's letter from the link above in the mail just today.  Still, he gets some redemption due to the fact that despite his misdeeds, the world has gained greater awareness of  the plight of kids in a rough part of the world, and the lives of some of those kids got a little better.  Mortenson’s friend, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof provides perspective on this point without excusing the conduct.

 

Here’s the bottom line, at least for me.  What Greg Mortenson did was reinforce a lesson that all readers of non-fiction should already be painfully aware, particular when the author is also a significant character in his own narrative.  Always. Remain. Skeptical.  It’s not that Mortenson’s conduct is insignificant, it’s that his conduct is unsurprising.  I’m not outraged. But I am sad to have this learning opportunity to share with my daughter.

RCM