The Totem Pole

Description

Published by Constable, London, 1999 (Reprint of 1999 1st UK Edition), D/w, Fine.  Paul had a reputation for bold new routes and was a leading climber in the 80s and 90s, also venturing further afield with trips to the Himalayas, Andes, Baffin Island and the Pamirs.  In 1997, he won the Boardman Tasker Award for his first book, Deep Play.  The prize money allowed him to undertake a world climbing tour which took in a slender sea stack, the Totem Pole, in Tasmania.  However, a chance rockfall on the climb inflicted terrible head injuries and he spent the next year in and out of hospitals, relearning basic thinking processes and muscle movements.  The Totem Pole chronicles Paul’s recovery, interlaced with memories of earlier climbing, describes changed relationships and his return to the scene of the accident with a film crew to watch friends complete the climb.  This second book also won the Boardman Tasker Award (for 1999).