It was quite challenging, but never a chore. And always interesting. That is how Canmore author Helen Rolfe described the process of co-writing Honouring High Places: The Mountain Life of Junko Tabei.
It was quite challenging, but never a chore. And always interesting.
That is how Canmore author Helen Rolfe described the process of co-writing Honouring High Places: The Mountain Life of Junko Tabei.
Published by Rocky Mountain Books, the first English language book about the life of the first woman to climb Mount Everest - accomplished in May 1975 as part of the first women-only Everest team - and arguably Japan's best-known and highly admired female climber, was a team effort that required many of the qualities that Tabei herself embodied - enthusiasm, passion and willpower.
Rolfe will present Honouring High Places at the Canmore library's Meet the Author event on Thursday (Feb. 8) at 7 p.m.
Rolfe's journey began in 2015 when Yumiko Hiraki, a Japanese-speaking hiking guide and long-time Bow Valley resident, contacted her looking for an editor to work on a book about Tabei. At their first meeting, the challenging scope of the project unfolded.
Taking on the role of co-writer, Rolfe was tasked with presenting Tabei's story in English, based on translations of excerpts selected by Tabei and Hiraki from several Japanese books Tabei had written.
"The translations were facts about Tabei's life that needed crafting into storytelling, as well as placed in flowing order," Rolfe described. "The question became how would I thread together random excerpts from previously written Japanese books to establish one tell-all story in English? And so, the fun began."
Hiraki's motivation to create the book sparked in 2014 when she learned Tabei was fighting cancer. The two had met in 2002 through Hiraki's work with Yamnuska Mountain Adventures and continued as they worked together on hiking tours and some private meetings.
Hiraki had been impressed by Tabei from their first meeting, when Tabei greeted the younger woman by bowing deeply and introducing herself with great politeness. For a mountain person of her generation, Hiraki said it was impossible not to know and admire Tabei.
"I chuckled to myself and tried to bow even lower than she did as I said, 'of course I know who you are,' in a polite version in Japanese, to which she responded, 'do you?' " Hiraki recounted. "Such a humble person she was, to almost a hilarious degree. I simply thought it is important to bring the history of Everest and her other stories into easier reach for non-Japanese readers."
Throughout the project, Rolfe and Hiraki meticulously dissected every word of Tabei's writing to make sure the meaning and context was true to the author in the English version. An added challenge is that many Japanese words and expressions have no literal equivalent in English.
"My job was to present Tabei's story in her voice - without having met her - and by staying true to the facts," Rolfe said. "We deconstructed a lot of material before I constructed the story in English, and then we reviewed every word I had written to make sure it was exact to Tabei's personality and story."
Tabei's humble and gracious personality shone through the entire project, Hiraki added.
"She asked me to make sure, in the making of this book, that (readers recognize her) as an ordinary person and that a person with no specific talent happened to have made it to Everest and some other stuff just because she loved mountains," Hiraki said. "Well, she is extraordinary in my eyes."
The strength of Tabei's willpower was admirable, Rolfe added.
"Her consistent belief that willpower is often the main quality needed to get the job done is refreshing," Rolfe said. "Her love for the outdoors and curiosity for new places is also refreshing. Although meticulous in her organization for big expeditions, Tabei's beliefs about mountaineering were honest, straightforward and quite simple: she climbed because she loved it."
Active in the mountains on several continents right until her death in 2016 at the age of 77, Tabei's approach to life was exemplary, Hiraki said.
"It's how her willpower, like 'the sky is the limit' and 'make the most out of what you are given' (attitude) wove throughout her ordinary life that is something we all can learn from," Hiraki said.
While hopes to see the book in print while Tabei was still alive weren't granted, their concerted effort to see it published for her family to appreciate on the first anniversary of her death succeeded. For both Rolfe and Hiraki, as well as Canmore's Reiko Holtved, who worked with Hiraki to translate Japanese to English, the project sparked friendships much deeper than a work arrangement.
"To write Tabei's story in English on her behalf was nothing less than a great honour for me," said Rolfe. "When I held the finished product in my hands for the first time, I cried. To be able to say, 'we did it,' is very rewarding indeed. Yumiko's friendship - an immediate kinship when we met - is also a great reward. This book was a team effort even though I never met some of the key players: Junko Tabei and her family, Setsuko Kitamura and Rieko Holtved. Now we are all connected."
