Three Cups of Friendship

In the midst of the recent allegations from Jon Krakauer that Greg Mortenson fabricated many of the tales in his book "Three Cups of Tea," Greg's long time friend and climbing partner Scott Darsney wrote a letter to Outside Magazine.

In the letter, which he wrote from Nepal, Darsney says hasty reporting has led to an unfair depiction of Mortenson, and that if his detractors had taken the time to have three or more cups of tea with him, they would have found some minor imperfections but nothing that amounts to fraud or lies.

Scott Darsney (picture from Outside)

Darsney takes some fault in the letter, saying that his statements may have pointed Krakauer in the wrong direction or that Krakauer may not have heard him correctly.

Darsney also said that when Krakauer is done with the in-depth reporting that has made him famous, a different picture of Mortenson will be painted.

Three Cups of Fraud

It seems that Greg Mortenson's best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea" may be a fraud. Jon Krakauer, author of "Into Thin Air," told 60 Minutes that the story, at the beginning of Mortenson's book, about Mortenson's near-death march from K2 that inspired him to build schools to educate girls never happened.

Also, it seems that Mortenson may have never been kidnapped by the Taliban.

This is great news! Mortenson didn't need to be nursed from death's door to want to educate women. Psycho Taliban gunmen never kidnapped Mortenson, also great news.

Mortenson stands by his book in an interview with Outside magazine.

His foundation, the Central Asian Institute, has also come into question. Their money management practices aren't what some would want them to be.

It seems the CAI is paying for Mortenson's travels which are for book signings and speeches, but Mortenson, not the CAI, is receiving the revenue from these events.

Mortenson told Outside that he, personally, hired an expert non-profit law firm to investigate their spending habits.

Upon the firm's advice, they're working on a separation between Mortenson and the CAI. Because of this, Mortenson has paid his own travel expenses since mid-January.

No one is denying that Mortenson  and the CAI have built a handful of schools in areas that would not have had them without him. Hopefully, both continue to do so, but more money is going to selling books then to building or maintaining schools.

I loved "Three Cups of Tea." It was inspiring, educating, and refreshing while remaining an easy read. Pick it up.