Daniel Light

Great to spend an unseasonably sunny April afternoon exploring Oxford’s greener pastures ahead of an appearance at the Oxford Literary Festival in conversation with mountain historian Mick Conefrey.

It was a pleasure to meet Mick, ‘one of our finest gazetteers of the Himalaya’, whose accounts of expeditions to climb Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga have been a real source of inspiration to me – and too of information.

Mick’s most recent book, Fallen, situates an unflinching examination of the real George Mallory amid the drama of the fateful 1924 expedition, making for a heady mix of narrative verve and meticulously researched non-fiction.

It was fascinating to be in conversation with Mick, and to understand the deep dive he has taken into the life – and death – of ‘one of history’s most well-known and least understood adventurers’.

After so many hours in The Alpine Club library it felt special to be invited to deliver a talk at the world’s oldest mountaineering club, especially with an introduction from its current president, Simon Richardson.

I was happy to have the opportunity to thank honorary archivist Glyn Hughes and former librarian Nigel Buckley for their help with the book, and to apologise in advance to Emma McDonald, Nigel’s replacement, for what comes next…

Established in 1853, Stanfords was purveying maps back when the pioneering protagonists of The White Ladder were in the market for them. I asked my publicist more than once to see if I might have the opportunity to do a talk there, so was delighted when a spot opened up.

I was happier still to write a short piece for the Stanfords blog promoting the book and the talk. I feel like I’m getting better at turning out articles like these in the hours and minutes that fall loose, and enjoyed drafting a news item for my alma mater, Charterhouse School, around the same time.

I’ve made new friends and caught up with old ones at every stop on my book tour, and Topping & Company in Bath was no different.

I was taken by complete surprise when my cousin Briony and her family arrived. Her mother, my aunt Liz, has her own connection with mountaineering royalty – she was once au pair to the family of the legendary French alpinist Gaston Rébuffat.

This event also gave me the opportunity to meet Clare Homfray, god-daughter of George Mallory’s oldest child, the late Frances ‘Clare’ Mallory.

It’s incredibly moving for me each time I meet, in three dimensions, the friends and family of those who, until recently, had lived only on the page.

The promise of ‘an evening with Daniel Light’ made me wonder if I needed some jokes, a musical number, maybe even a bit of burlesque.

Instead, mindful that I’m still finding my feet in a new career, I left my tap shoes at home and let the slides do the talking.

Thanks to James for grabbing a few snaps of the talk, and for making the time to give me a wistful tour of Christ Church in the afternoon.