Dream Big and Dare to Fail: Norman Vaughan
November 30, 2007
By Kat Vaughan
Norman Dane Vaughan and two cohorts from the Admiral Byrd Expedition 1928-1930
I came across a mountaineering blog today and it reminded me of Uncle Norman, my Great Uncle, my Mom's father's brother. I only met Uncle Norman once, when he came to San Francisco, but over the years, I had heard many stories about him. Norman Dane Vaughan made his mark on the world when he dropped out of Harvard in 1928 to pursue Admiral Byrd's Expedition in Antarctica. Uncle Norman volunteered his time on this two year expedition as the Chief Dog Driver. Admiral Byrd, impressed by Uncle Norman, named a mountain in Antarctica after him (Mt Vaughan) and many years later, on December 16, 1994, Uncle Norman climbed this 10,302 foot peak, three days shy of his 89th birthday! National Geographic documented this amazing and arduous climb, in a video called Height of Courage.
Uncle Norman pursued his life passionately, accomplishing many extraordinary goals in his life, in addition to the Admiral Byrd Expedition. It was his passion for life that captured my interest. He risked it all several times over to pursue his call. I see myself in Uncle Norman; I understand his compulsion for unconventional living.
In 1932, Uncle Norman competed in the dog mushing race in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY. During WWII, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces Search and Rescue as a dogsled driver, eventually attaining the rank of colonel and serving in several rescue missions in Greenland and in the Korean War.
In 1968, Uncle Norman moved to Alaska after his business collapsed and marriage fell apart and it was here that his life took on a life of its own. Four years after he moved there, at the age of 72, Uncle Norman competed in his first iditarod race - a 1,150-mile sled dog race. By 84 years of age, Uncle Norman competed in a total of 13 iditarod races, completing 6 of them. By this time, he married his 4th wife, Carolyn Muegge, a woman 40 years his junior! Like Uncle Norman, she competed in iditarods and had a love for adventure and the Alaskan outback. Uncle Norman was rather brazen: he crashed Jimmy Carter's inaugural Presidential parade and later, to the wonder of many, taught John Paul II how to mush! In 1997, Uncle Norman organized the annual 868-mile Serum Run from Nenana to Nome, Alaska. This race commemorated the 1925 serum run to Nome, a run that saved an entire town from a diphtheria epidemic.
(Source: National Geographic)
Shortly before his 100th birthday, Uncle Norman was on the Jay Leno show sharing his plans for his centennial birthday bash. Just days before his big party, however, Uncle Norman fell ill and was admitted to a hospital. On his 100th year birthday, while family and friends gathered in Telluride, Colorado to celebrate his birthday, Uncle Norman was on a live-feed video cam talking to all of his well wishers from his hospital bed. For the first time in his entire life, Uncle Norman had a drink of liquor, a glass of champagne, fulfilling a promising to his mother that he wouldn't drink until he was 100. Four days later, Uncle Norman died.
Uncle Norman lead an extraordinary life. He was a dreamer, entrepreneur, explorer, author, mountain climber, risk taker and lover of life. He was an extreme outdoors man and took his passion to achieve distinct fame. However, he did not pursue his passion for glory, but to satisfy his call and purpose for living. Norman Vaughan was a modern day hero, a man true to his motto: dream big and dare to fail.
Go and do the same.
Video:
National Geographic: Height of Courage: The Norman Vaughan Story
For Further Reading:
Norman Dane Vaughan and two cohorts from the Admiral Byrd Expedition 1928-1930
I came across a mountaineering blog today and it reminded me of Uncle Norman, my Great Uncle, my Mom's father's brother. I only met Uncle Norman once, when he came to San Francisco, but over the years, I had heard many stories about him. Norman Dane Vaughan made his mark on the world when he dropped out of Harvard in 1928 to pursue Admiral Byrd's Expedition in Antarctica. Uncle Norman volunteered his time on this two year expedition as the Chief Dog Driver. Admiral Byrd, impressed by Uncle Norman, named a mountain in Antarctica after him (Mt Vaughan) and many years later, on December 16, 1994, Uncle Norman climbed this 10,302 foot peak, three days shy of his 89th birthday! National Geographic documented this amazing and arduous climb, in a video called Height of Courage.
Uncle Norman pursued his life passionately, accomplishing many extraordinary goals in his life, in addition to the Admiral Byrd Expedition. It was his passion for life that captured my interest. He risked it all several times over to pursue his call. I see myself in Uncle Norman; I understand his compulsion for unconventional living.
In 1932, Uncle Norman competed in the dog mushing race in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY. During WWII, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces Search and Rescue as a dogsled driver, eventually attaining the rank of colonel and serving in several rescue missions in Greenland and in the Korean War.
In 1968, Uncle Norman moved to Alaska after his business collapsed and marriage fell apart and it was here that his life took on a life of its own. Four years after he moved there, at the age of 72, Uncle Norman competed in his first iditarod race - a 1,150-mile sled dog race. By 84 years of age, Uncle Norman competed in a total of 13 iditarod races, completing 6 of them. By this time, he married his 4th wife, Carolyn Muegge, a woman 40 years his junior! Like Uncle Norman, she competed in iditarods and had a love for adventure and the Alaskan outback. Uncle Norman was rather brazen: he crashed Jimmy Carter's inaugural Presidential parade and later, to the wonder of many, taught John Paul II how to mush! In 1997, Uncle Norman organized the annual 868-mile Serum Run from Nenana to Nome, Alaska. This race commemorated the 1925 serum run to Nome, a run that saved an entire town from a diphtheria epidemic.
(Source: National Geographic)
Shortly before his 100th birthday, Uncle Norman was on the Jay Leno show sharing his plans for his centennial birthday bash. Just days before his big party, however, Uncle Norman fell ill and was admitted to a hospital. On his 100th year birthday, while family and friends gathered in Telluride, Colorado to celebrate his birthday, Uncle Norman was on a live-feed video cam talking to all of his well wishers from his hospital bed. For the first time in his entire life, Uncle Norman had a drink of liquor, a glass of champagne, fulfilling a promising to his mother that he wouldn't drink until he was 100. Four days later, Uncle Norman died.
Uncle Norman lead an extraordinary life. He was a dreamer, entrepreneur, explorer, author, mountain climber, risk taker and lover of life. He was an extreme outdoors man and took his passion to achieve distinct fame. However, he did not pursue his passion for glory, but to satisfy his call and purpose for living. Norman Vaughan was a modern day hero, a man true to his motto: dream big and dare to fail.
Go and do the same.
Video:
National Geographic: Height of Courage: The Norman Vaughan Story
For Further Reading:
- With Byrd at the Bottom of the World: The South Pole Expedition of 1928-1930 by Norman Vaughan
- My Life of Adventure by Norman Vaughan
- http://www.normanvaughan.com/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_D._Vaughan
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5061204
- http://www.serumrun.org/
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/may/17/antarctica.climatechange
- http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0504/excerpt5.html
- http://www.markkatzman.com/documents/Vaughan.jpg
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