What did I think of Greg Mortenson ‘morally’? my son asked me after we watched the scorching 60 Minutes expose on the bestselling author and activist.
My son had taken part in an all-school ‘read’ of Motenson’s Three Cups of Tea (which a couple young wits who are his friends dubbed ‘Three Cups of Me,’ given what they and my son found to be Mortenson’s off-putting self-promotional tone).
The kids were onto something. Sounds like Mortenson may have let fame go to his head. The facts are not all in yet, but of course he is accused of exaggerating key parts of his narrative and of using his charity to pay for promoting his book.
Dean Rader in the San Francisco Chronicle gave a balanced view of the situation, bringing up the unique difficulties of writing memoirs. But surely Mortenson would not be in such hot water now if the publisher had paid for ALL major promotions on a book that is making them big bucks. And didn’t kids collecting ‘Pennies for Peace’ have a right to know some of those pennies may have gone to book promoting? As our commenter ‘AK’ points out, shouldn’t school systems have vetted this charity more fully? Mortenson has done good works. But he has more than his share of writerly egotism.
Whether or not his tale is true, he seems have felt– with all the good he was doing in his noble endeavor to help educate children in Afghanistan and Pakistan– he was entitled to fly on a private jet and chalk up book-publicizing expenses to his charity (which claims in news reports the promoting does benefit their overall cause).
Yes, Mortenson was pushing a worthy cause, as well as building up his own image. But not everyone will cut him a break. In fact, idealistic young readers like my son– who had detected that suspiciously self-serving tone in a book that turned many reviewers to mush– may ultimately be an even harder crowd for Mortenson to face down than the hard-nosed reporters on 60 Minutes. WDYT?
PS: thanks to NED on Facebook for this link to Three Cups of Deceit… & thanks to commenter AK for a glimpse of responses from the smallwarsjournal…
(photos: depauu.edu; uploadexperience.com)
There is no doubt that Greg M has done good deeds but he is a shameless self-advertiser who has built himself into an ‘idol.’
I believe that though he has created many schools he has lied about the number and falsified information to make it appear more romantic and dramatic.
Thanks W– always good to hear your W words of wisdom– as usual you put it well– he is indeed a shameless self-promoter even by writer standards and I like your use of the word ‘idol’ (which should always be in quotes!)
And yes, as a fellow writer I know the desire to make things more ‘romantic and dramatic’– but i am writing what is clearly labeled ‘fiction’!
Wonderful
They call me wonderful
Say look who’s wonderful – this corn-fed hick
Who thought it might be keen
To rake in all that green
And build a few schools of yellow brick
- apologies to Wicked
LOL, Litotes
Like W, you bring words of wisdom (even if they are not your own…)
Yep:
Who IS ‘that man behind the curtain’?
We shall be finding out as this ‘scandal in a teacup’ unfolds…
Cheers to you and the Wizard–
Elizabeth
PS
And thanks to NED on FACEBOOK for sending in this link to THREE CUPS OF DECEIT:
http://www.byliner.com/
I am interested in Pakistan and Afghanistan and since 9-11, assigned myself a crash course of reading all I could get my hands on.
But I put down Three Cups of Tea after a brief skim through and a glance at the photos.
My misgivings were the same as those your son had.
The book stank of author self promotion. He hogged the camera in too many of the photos. Seemed like trying to be the hero of the tale.
Someone so self involved would not have had the steady judgement needed to deal with the complex negotiations needed to build schools and staff them in the US, let alone in Pakistan and Afganistan.
I have never been so sorry to see my misgivings confirmed.
Beware of any venture, no matter how noble, in which the author spends so much time cultivating his own public image and mystique.
Inspiration triggered by lies is nothing more than a way to get people drugged and high and ends in heart break.
Worse, Mortensen got attention from the US military. and his books were required reading in grade schools and even some college coursework.
This all just stinks and will make us more suspicious of anyone trying to do good in this part of the world.
Thanks a bunch, Mr Mortenson, and thanks to his publisher for failing to fact check, and thanks to the members of his board of directors who resigned instead of going to the state attorney general and demanding that CAI’s account books be examined and audited.
It is selfish and cruel to toy with people’s hearts and trust.
Any time you encounter an inspirational tale–before you give your heart away–fact check and trust your gut instincts.
Hi AK
Thanks for this excellent and very thoughtful comment– yes, it’s really a tragedy and a true shame that peoples’ hearts are being toyed with here, especially the kids. Glad to hear you got the same vibe as my son. I will let him know.
And what’s shocking given as you say the US Military and school systems etc buying into this is that the info was all there, or at least some of it. A friend of mine who knows the charity world looked up the org. online prior to the scandal and found they got low ratings for lack of accountability on fund usage.
Surely the school kids collecting ‘Pennies for Peace’ had a right to know some of those pennies were going to Book Promotions. And yes, why couldn’t the press have paid for ALL book promos given the money they must have been making off all this?
Thanks again for stopping by and ‘raising the bar’ of commentary here on the blog. We usually deal with lighter matters but this is a scandal that actually effects many lives, as you point out… Elizabeth (I run the blog)
In this matter, your son and his friends showed better insight and instincts than the publishers at Viking.
Your son has a real gift for seeing through illusion and and hitting at the truthfulness factor. This is a gift.
Tell him he is gifted and show him ways to develop that talent.
Here is a take home lesson.
People seem eager, even desperate for ‘inspiration’.
What is inspiration?
It appears to be some form of ‘feeling good’
Its as though Mortenson became a dealer in inspiration, rather than a source of reliable information about the people and cultures he purported to serve.
If anyone comes along offering to make us feel good, whether through selling us a drug, or a product, or a feel good project–never act on impulse.
They are trying to get at your heart.
Instead, where your heart is concerned, fact check first.
Many people want access to our hearts.
Not everyone deserves access.
Fact check their inspirational stories and their characters, just as you would a potential lover.
This isnt cynicism, it is realism.
Dont let just anyone into your heart. Your heart and trust are intimate territory.
See if the person or cause courting your heart is reliable.
Anyone peddling inspiration based on deceit is no better than a cocaine dealer.
And in a situation like this, the damage done is so much worse–we will be reluctant to trust anyone trying to offer help to the already suffering people of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Dear Elizabeth, there is some thoughtful discussion here on this venue..and thats where one of the discussants mentioned being required to read 3 Cups for a university course.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XOxvawr-PvoJ:http://www.metafilter.com/102618/Sorry-it-was-only-two-cups+%22greg+mortenson%22+%22shabby%22&hl=en&ct=clnk
Another man who builds schools in South America wrote of feeling betrayed because he had used 3 Cups in teaching his own students. (He uses rough language)
http://expathousehusband.tumblr.com/post/4725735639/three-cups-of-tea-four-cups-of-bullshit
Final lousy note: Three Cups of Me was reportedly compulsory reading for important members of our military such as Special Forces.
Special Operations personnel do *not* take kindly to being involved in someone else’s personal mythmaking.
And they dislike being fed inaccurate information.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=943&bih=468&q=%22three+cups+of+tea%22+%22compulsory%22&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
Take home lesson for us all:
A seemingly tiny step away from truthfulness can have unforseen and staggering consquences.
And in some cases, it can put peoples lives at risk–people that a self centered careerist never imagines existing.
A person who self promotes is so busy checking his own picture in the mirror that he doenst have the energy to even think of consequences or of persons other than himself.
(or herself)
Beware of hype. A good cause doenst need it.
And the best projects are small, local and grow gradually and steadily, not media managed ‘hits’.
HI again AK–
Thanks for your further notes which are themselves inspiring in the sharp and wise way that you warn against those peddling ‘inspiration.’ So true that the military (not to mention the US taxpayers) will not take kindly to knowing our dollars may have been misspent. I agree that many of the best projects take place outside the limelight and grow in natural ways, not under the spotlight ‘sun.’ And thanks for your kind words about my son and his friends, who were indeed ahead of most ‘grown-ups’ in seeing this coming. Cheers–
Elizabeth
From the first time I read his book, I had doubts about his motives and accomplishments. I doubted his acumen when he bought all the materials to build a school and suddenly realized that there was no way to get them to the village and they had to build a bridge. He was lucky–he sent out many requests for help in building schools and got one billionaire interested, and the rest is history. I thought he was a neglectful husband and father as he was running around building the schools without plans for their survival. John Krakauer is a highly respected author and is doing all of us a service to expose the phoniness of Greg Mortenson. He was the darling of the Book Discussion Groups here in Arizona, but I never bought it!
HI Barb–
Yes, I have been hearing from quite a few astute readers today who– like you and like my son– sensed something suspicious in that much-praised book. And yes, the fact that GM was neglecting his family and does not seem to mention or think about that was another clue that something was amiss or missing in this author.
He handled the 60 Minutes situation terribly; I think he should have spoken to them even if he had to face tough questions. Now he and his organization are in a bad position, risking the good works that have been accomplished. As I told my son, I really think fame went to GM’s head. We shall see what kind of response he musters, but I think he will, for starters, disillusion a lot of kids. Thanks as always for stopping by!
Elizabeth
For feedback and reflections from personnel serving or who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is a very good source.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2011/04/three-cups-of-bs/
Thanks for this link, AK. Yes, I’ve been wondering how the military who were required to read the book (not to mention the taxpayers funding that) would react. I will get this link up on the blog post itself, so I appreciate you sending it in! Elizabeth
PS: I’ve posted the link and was reading the responses– very interesting to see the views of those ‘on the ground’ in these regions. Thanks again! Elizabeth
Friends, for comparison, I advise getting a copy of Under a Sickle Moon, written in the 1980s by Peregrine Hodson.
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=&title=under+a+sickle+moon&lang=en&isbn=&submit=Begin+search&new_used=*&destination=us¤cy=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr
The author was not trying to build schools for girls. He was a journalist, there to publicize the sufferings the people were going through and part of a group doing something the culture valued–bringing in weapons to use to fight against the Soviets.
Despite all this Hodson and his group meet with horrific obstacles and great suspicion.
I had read this book before encountering Three Cups of Tea and it caused me to suspect that Mortenson made it seem much too easy.
Hodgson went to Pakistan in 1980 or so, as a journalist. He accompanied a mujaheed group whose assignment was to smuggle a load of weapons from Pakistan into Afghanistan so the locals could be armed to fight back against the Soviets.
Mr Hodgson was there under the auspices of the Jamaat-i-Islami. He was vouched for. He spoke some Persian. He was bringing in material the culture valued, not something they were suspicous of. He was there to publicize and assist in a war the people supported
And repeat, he was accompanying Mujaheed bringing weapons to people who wanted them.
Depsite all this, Hodson was treated with a great deal of suspicion by some members of the group. And one big heart breaker came when the group was betrayed by one of their own members, and forced to hand over the precious cargo to a competing warlords group.
Later, the author was trapped in a cave with his friends during a Soviet advance into the territory and they had to flee over the mountains back into Pakistan in winter conditions.
Compared with Under a Sickle Moon, where the author let the people and the circumstances speak for themselves, Three Cups of Tea was a thin brew.
And Under a Sickle Moon, though potentially a much more informative book, is written for adults, and not likely to be recommended to children.
And…you know what? Thats a pity. Boys, especially, might find it interesting. Its a real adventure story. Not something cooked up and marketed to children to make easy fast bucks.
Hodson’s very British mother wished him well and told him she hoped he would not be too much of a nuisance to the mudjaheed.
Afterwards, Hodson settled down to a career in the UK as an attorney. He didnt hit the lecture circuit making himself a celebrity. He bore witness and that was enough.
Note this photo accompanying the Salon article.
See how carefully and thoughtflly it was posed. The girls are wearing pink and the young boy in the photo is wearing light yellow.
The only one in this entire group wearing black is Mr Mortenson. The effect of all this color coordination is, to make him visually salient, using the pink clad girls as a mere backdrop to enhance him.
THat, and his constant presence along with the toothpaste advertisement smile (flash the pearlies) was what put me off about his book from the very start–he reminded me of a kid in a group photo constantly angling to ensure he gets all the attention in the group shot.
It was after 9-11 and I wanted to learn about Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. What I want is a knowledable guide who knows how to let him or herself *stand to one side* to allow the people and their nation to come forward and reveal themselves.
Your son and his friends were the ones who saw the real vibe–something Admiral Mullen failed to see.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/04/three-cups-tea-author-faces-ag-probe/36856/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlanticWire+%28The+Atlantic+Wire%29
HI again AK–
Thanks for this good constructive comparison and recommendation. The Sickle Moon is an interesting contrast and I like your point:
“Afterwards, Hodson settled down to a career in the UK as an attorney. He didnt hit the lecture circuit making himself a celebrity. He bore witness and that was enough.”
We live in such an era of celebrity that authors like Hodson these days are rare.
Also I like your analysis of the photo. Lots to discuss here and I appreciate the links and thoughts you’ve sent in–
Elizabeth
“We’re all sinners of one kind or another.” Traditionally, Catholics categorize our sins: Mortal and Venial, with one category leading to the eternal fires of “Hell”, and the other, after penance in Purgatory, to eternal salvation in “Heaven”. In this slightly more sophisticated age of Moral Relativism, we might go on to distinguish mortal vs venial sins on the scale of an individual’s lifetime of “Good” vs “Evil” Works, and how good is “good” vs evil vs… etc etc. Unfortunately medieval righteousness manages to outlast more sophisticated notions of balance in the moral equation. We are all righteous sinners, more or less.
Hi Ol’ Bill–
Yes, it’s good to keep things in balance. Mortenson has undeniably (as I said in the Post) done good works. Maybe in the end the good will outweigh the controversy. But when prominent people like him build up their own image so that they are on a pedestal, they risk having a big fall when their all-too-human flaws come to light. In this era of Frey, Mortenson and his publisher should have known the big price that can be paid for messing with the facts.
And his charitable organization had already been ‘served notice’ by charity group watchdogs that their use of funds was questionable.
All this controversy was preventable and this kind of scrutiny comes with the territory for those who aggressively seek the spotlight like Mortenson. Unfortunately a lot of innocent well-meaning volunteers and others will pay a price for his recklessness. I agree in the great scheme of things he is still a person who’s done a lot of good.
Yet it’s hard to feel great sympathy for someone who had so many advantages and supporters and who could have prevented these troubles with more sensible behavior.
He has yet to really have his say and I’m willing to hear his response, but he will have to do much better than he did on 60 Minutes. His refusal to even talk to them was a mistake and now I believe there is an official investigation underway. So there must be ‘just cause’ for all this fuss. I agree that ‘righteousness’ is always suspect but I think Mortenson invited that himself by puffing up his own image so high, as the child readers I talked to sensed right away in his book. Stay tuned and thanks for the balanced view here on the blog, where emotions tend to run high– Elizabeth
It will probably take some time for us to hear what people in the service have to say about this matter.
The Small Wars Journal is written and maintained by experts. Some are still on active duty. Others are veterans with decades of experience who are now in private pratice.
Places to look would be discussion forums by and for people most affected by this mess.
However, career military dont shoot their mouths off in public. They are going to wait and see how this matter pans out and then, we may be able to read what they have to say.
such as the USMC Forum
http://forums.militaryspot.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/5161074
US Navy SEALs (aka Navy Special Ops–they’ve rescued hostages in Afghanistan)
http://www.navyseals.com/forums/
If Mortenson turns out to be a rip off and a fraud here is a place where he should go sit for awhile.
And if the allegations turn out to true, then the Poo Pond would be an appropriate place for irate troops (photographed on Greg’s blog) can go and toss copies of his books.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=994&bih=584&q=kandahar+poo+pond&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=f&oq=
Hi AK– good to clarify that. I will change the PS I added on the blog to just give the name of the site involved. Yes, it will take a while for all this to shake down and for us to know what those in the service think about it– Thanks for the military links–
Cheers– Elizabeth
BTW a fellow wrote in to the comments section on The Daily Beast. He too had the same instinct your son and his friends had.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110418/ts_dailybeast/13572_isthreecupsofteawritergregmortensonafraud
This man wrote:
“238 users liked this comment
. 3 users disliked this commentA Yahoo! user Mon Apr 18, 2011 09:35 am PDT Report Abuse
I read this Book at the height of its buzz. My wifes book club loved it, and it had my wife seriously questioning her purpose in life.
It wasn’t that overly dramatic, but my wife interest intrigued me so I gave it a read. It was quite an interesting read. I found Mortenson a little pompous, but i cut him some slack but it was a for a noble purpose.
I couldn’t really put my finger on it but my @#$% detector was going off throughout the book.
I suppose mainly it had to do with the ease in which he was able to get things done in an environment that doesn’t really value education. When it comes to educating girls, I understand it can be downright hostile. When I started hearing the numbers of schools it just seemed to me that it would be quite revolutionary and it would cause quite a stir in the mountainous region of Pakistan”
(It isnt likely this man read Peregrine Hodson, but he too hit the same thing–GM made it all seem so easy. And I too had wondered why if all those schools were being built were we not hearing about this in venues such as Times of India, or Pakistans two English language newspapers, Dawn and the Frontier Post which covers the area where Mortenson supposedly did his work. If any of those three newspapers (all available online, BTW) had run stories about him, you bet Mortenson’s own website would have had citations for such stories. But…no.)
To Elizabeth: A way to celebrate would be for you to find a way to bring your son and his two friends together, and have them each write down what made them come up with ‘Three Cups of Me’.
They should ask if they had any funny feeling in their bodies that helped them sense something was out of joint.
They should each write this down and then compare what they wrote. Intuition works in different ways. It will also be an opportunity for some non violent male bonding to take place.
Those young men need to fix that triumph of insight and find a way to get it onto paper. They demonstrated intellectual and emotional intelligence–street smarts.
Their street smarts enabled them to resist a hype campaign. And it is a talent they need to value because it is an unpopular virtue these days–and makes it all the more necessary.
Any time in the future someone tries to feed them a load of malarky, especially if an authority figure tries to do it–they can look back on this and remember they have street smarts and how to operate them.
No need for personal reply. Every mom I know is busy.
Thanks for these creative thoughts and thanks for knowing all moms are busy. So true– but I did want to jump in and say I appreciate all the thoughtful comments you’ve made on this Post– especially your appreciation of how my son and his friends did ‘resist a hype campaign’– Elizabeth
Note–no need for reply as you are busy.
Here is a think and do project that your son and his two buddies can get their teeth into. And most adults would find this interesting.
(Grim)
This blog post was made a year ago.
http://ryanmcleanfund.blogspot.com/2010/02/three-cups-of-me.html
Now. Here is an exercise you and your son and his friends can do.
Copy and paste this into Word.
Then go the task bar, find Edit and then locate the Find and Replace commands.
Replace Greg Mortenson name with heroin or crack cocaine.
When people set a hype campaign up designed in such a way as to get us high on their personalities, then we are in a danger zone.
And the sense of entitlement required to do this often goes hand in hand with a sense of entitlement regarding money, and deciding one deserves rides on Lear Jets, rather than waiting in line, going through Homeland Security and flying tourist class.
Will tell you that people dont instantly become charismatic and have that ability to rock a room. Its a skill set and people who crave attention work hard behind closed doors to master that.
There are ways to identify good projects that are independent of some individuals need for personality enhancement. In this age of celebrity, being able to master the talent your son and his friends showed in spotting an attention hungry person at risk of embezzling resources from his project–that skill is going to be more and more necessary.
We cant rely on our leaders and not even people like Admiral Mullen to do the fact checking for us.
We have to trust our guts and watch out for anyone who tries to get us high on their mere presence.
Two articles summarizing an early study on Charisma
http://www.sustainedaction.org/Explorations/prophetic_charisma_psychological_explanation%20part1.htm
and
http://www.sustainedaction.org/Explorations/prophetic_charisma_excerpt_part%202.htm
Thanks for more intriguing thoughts and links; I am interested in the study on Charisma, a guiding force of our times.
Cheers– Elizabeth
Excellent discussion here
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/04/greg-mortenson-peter-hessler.html
Take home lesson: any venture that leads people to get invested in defending someone’s public persona–watch out.
The interview with the worker in Nepal speaks volumes.
HI AK–
Thanks very much for this link– yes, this is an excellent discussion: the article itself and also the comments, which give articulate accounts on all sides of the issue.
This is a link to really read for those wanting to delve deeper into this whole complicated situation.
Cheers–
Elizabeth