Flamboyant Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir comes out of the closet in his new autobiography which excerpt is published on People. "In a sexual way, I'm gay, but I would marry a woman tomorrow if it struck me. I don't think sex and relationships necessarily have to go together," the 26-year-old who refuses to be labeled said.
He's taking the cue to go public with his sexuality from the recent trend of bullying closeted gays. "With people killing themselves and being scared into the closet, I hope that even just one person can gain strength from my story," he said about his new book which is titled "Welcome to My World".
In the book, Weir wrote, "I'm not ashamed to be me. More than anyone else I know, I love my life and accept myself. What's wrong with being unique? I am proud of everything that I am and will become." He added that being gay "is the smallest part of what makes me me."
In fact Weir had been mistaken as a girl when he was a child, and the then-6-year-old would be attracted to Richard Gere in "Pretty Woman" instead of Julia Roberts. In High School Weir would be called demeaning names like "faggot" and "homo" but he found sanctuary in skating. "By puberty, I knew that I was gay," he wrote. "But I didn't worry about it much. As a serious skater, I was way too busy."
He went on addressing the media scrutiny over his sexuality, saying "A lot of the gays got downright angry about my silence. But pressure is the last thing that would make me want to 'join' a community." He revealed that a lot of websites for gays thought he was a jerk for not admitting he's different.
"Welcome to My World" will be released on Tuesday, January 11. Weir will go on a national book tour in New York the same day. The three-time U.S. champion is taking residency and break in Russia but would be back on the rink for Sochi Olympics in 2014.
Flamboyant Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir comes out of the closet in his new autobiography which excerpt is published on People. "In a sexual way, I'm gay, but I would marry a woman tomorrow if it struck me. I don't think sex and relationships necessarily have to go together," the 26-year-old who refuses to be labeled said.
He's taking the cue to go public with his sexuality from the recent trend of bullying closeted gays. "With people killing themselves and being scared into the closet, I hope that even just one person can gain strength from my story," he said about his new book which is titled "Welcome to My World".
In the book, Weir wrote, "I'm not ashamed to be me. More than anyone else I know, I love my life and accept myself. What's wrong with being unique? I am proud of everything that I am and will become." He added that being gay "is the smallest part of what makes me me."
In fact Weir had been mistaken as a girl when he was a child, and the then-6-year-old would be attracted to Richard Gere in "Pretty Woman" instead of Julia Roberts. In High School Weir would be called demeaning names like "faggot" and "homo" but he found sanctuary in skating. "By puberty, I knew that I was gay," he wrote. "But I didn't worry about it much. As a serious skater, I was way too busy."
He went on addressing the media scrutiny over his sexuality, saying "A lot of the gays got downright angry about my silence. But pressure is the last thing that would make me want to 'join' a community." He revealed that a lot of websites for gays thought he was a jerk for not admitting he's different.
"Welcome to My World" will be released on Tuesday, January 11. Weir will go on a national book tour in New York the same day. The three-time U.S. champion is taking residency and break in Russia but would be back on the rink for Sochi Olympics in 2014.
Nanaimo musician earning praise for tribute to country legend
By Jesse Ferreras
Who: Almost Johnny Cash's Big River
Where: Dusty's
When: Saturday, Dec. 11
You can imitate, you can emulate, and then you can inhabit. Dave Pittet most certainly does the latter with Johnny Cash.
A Nanaimo musician, Pittet doesn't just play the songs of the Man in Black. For the past three years now he has worked his damndest to evoke the country/rock legend as lead singer of Almost Johnny Cash's Big River, an act that will hit Dusty's on Dec. 11.
The band is as much a musical performance as it is method acting, at least in the case of its frontman. With a gravelly, guttural voice that uncannily replicates Cash's, Pittet has put a mountain of effort into his performance. He has matched his hair, his posture and his clothing to his subject.
Most cover bands depend merely on nostalgia to draw an audience. Big River wants you to imagine the man is right there up on stage.
Almost Johnny Cash has a rather unremarkable beginning: it was five years ago and the biopic Walk the Line was in theatres. Pittet's girlfriend suggested they see it about six months after it hit the multiplexes - a long life in theatres for any film.
"I just started singing along and talking," he said in an interview. "She said you sound better than Joaquin Phoenix."
The film tapped into something. Like Cash, Pittet grew up in a farming community. His father owned the hardware store in Tofield, Alberta, just outside of Edmonton, and all of his friends were farmers. He helped them bale hay, tend to horses, all while he listened to the sounds of Ring of Fire and Folsom Prison Blues on CFTW radio.
Two years after seeing Walk the Line, Pittet found himself hanging out after hours at the bar in the Queens Hotel in Nanaimo, formerly a blues-y venue that has since turned to more of a rock audience. In the green room after a show he picked up a guitar and started playing Ring of Fire.
As he strummed the last chord his listeners just sat there in silence.
"What?" Dave asked, wondering whether he'd lost his touch.
"Are you Johnny's twin?" asked a man sitting at the bar. "Because dude, that's what you should be doing."
"Since then I haven't looked back," Pittet said.
From there he has worked to hone his performance - the music as well as the personality. He draws on what he says is a "sordid past," just like Johnny's, and a marital record to match.
"I had a similar marriage, if you'd like," Pittet said. "I've had quit a few children, three of them. Cash had four with his first wife."
He's backed up by a three-piece band: Robert "RJ" Morrison, a guitarist adept at pointing out "that familiar Johnny Cash groove," according to the band's website; Colin Stevenson, a drummer from Victoria who was headhunted into the band because of his ability to stay truthful to style; and Todd Sacerty, billed as the "most respected and talented bass player from Nanaimo, B.C.
Almost Johnny Cash's current tour sees Pittet traversing the west. In November he played gigs in Langley, Calgary and Vancouver. After Whistler he goes to Crofton, Slave Lake, Cold Lake and Mount Washington, playing sold out gigs along the way. That takes him up to about March and from there he said he's booked solid in bars, rodeos, casinos and other road venues.
A shy fellow by his own admission, he's truly in his place on stage.
"Johnny said in an interview once he was more comfortable in front of 10,000 people than 10," Pittet said. "If you put me up on stage, 10 people are more difficult to me than 10,000.
"It's something else when a 70 year old comes up to you and says, I saw Johnny Cash when I was 10 years old and you're as good as him any day of the week."
Saturday's performance will mark Pittet's second trip to Whistler in his life. His first was a ski trip about five years ago and he looks forward to playing in and around the mountains once more.
As we hang up the phone he offers a farewell that can only have been inspired by Cash himself: "May the wind always be at your back," he says.
Nanaimo musician earning praise for tribute to country legend
By Jesse Ferreras
Who: Almost Johnny Cash's Big River
Where: Dusty's
When: Saturday, Dec. 11
You can imitate, you can emulate, and then you can inhabit. Dave Pittet most certainly does the latter with Johnny Cash.
A Nanaimo musician, Pittet doesn't just play the songs of the Man in Black. For the past three years now he has worked his damndest to evoke the country/rock legend as lead singer of Almost Johnny Cash's Big River, an act that will hit Dusty's on Dec. 11.
The band is as much a musical performance as it is method acting, at least in the case of its frontman. With a gravelly, guttural voice that uncannily replicates Cash's, Pittet has put a mountain of effort into his performance. He has matched his hair, his posture and his clothing to his subject.
Most cover bands depend merely on nostalgia to draw an audience. Big River wants you to imagine the man is right there up on stage.
Almost Johnny Cash has a rather unremarkable beginning: it was five years ago and the biopic Walk the Line was in theatres. Pittet's girlfriend suggested they see it about six months after it hit the multiplexes - a long life in theatres for any film.
"I just started singing along and talking," he said in an interview. "She said you sound better than Joaquin Phoenix."
The film tapped into something. Like Cash, Pittet grew up in a farming community. His father owned the hardware store in Tofield, Alberta, just outside of Edmonton, and all of his friends were farmers. He helped them bale hay, tend to horses, all while he listened to the sounds of Ring of Fire and Folsom Prison Blues on CFTW radio.
Two years after seeing Walk the Line, Pittet found himself hanging out after hours at the bar in the Queens Hotel in Nanaimo, formerly a blues-y venue that has since turned to more of a rock audience. In the green room after a show he picked up a guitar and started playing Ring of Fire.
As he strummed the last chord his listeners just sat there in silence.
"What?" Dave asked, wondering whether he'd lost his touch.
"Are you Johnny's twin?" asked a man sitting at the bar. "Because dude, that's what you should be doing."
"Since then I haven't looked back," Pittet said.
From there he has worked to hone his performance - the music as well as the personality. He draws on what he says is a "sordid past," just like Johnny's, and a marital record to match.
"I had a similar marriage, if you'd like," Pittet said. "I've had quit a few children, three of them. Cash had four with his first wife."
He's backed up by a three-piece band: Robert "RJ" Morrison, a guitarist adept at pointing out "that familiar Johnny Cash groove," according to the band's website; Colin Stevenson, a drummer from Victoria who was headhunted into the band because of his ability to stay truthful to style; and Todd Sacerty, billed as the "most respected and talented bass player from Nanaimo, B.C.
Almost Johnny Cash's current tour sees Pittet traversing the west. In November he played gigs in Langley, Calgary and Vancouver. After Whistler he goes to Crofton, Slave Lake, Cold Lake and Mount Washington, playing sold out gigs along the way. That takes him up to about March and from there he said he's booked solid in bars, rodeos, casinos and other road venues.
A shy fellow by his own admission, he's truly in his place on stage.
"Johnny said in an interview once he was more comfortable in front of 10,000 people than 10," Pittet said. "If you put me up on stage, 10 people are more difficult to me than 10,000.
"It's something else when a 70 year old comes up to you and says, I saw Johnny Cash when I was 10 years old and you're as good as him any day of the week."
Saturday's performance will mark Pittet's second trip to Whistler in his life. His first was a ski trip about five years ago and he looks forward to playing in and around the mountains once more.
As we hang up the phone he offers a farewell that can only have been inspired by Cash himself: "May the wind always be at your back," he says.
Crooners JOHNNY MATHIS and JOSH GROBAN teamed up for their first duet on THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW on Monday (22Nov10).
The two stars, who both have recorded hit Christmas albums, sang a rendition of The Christmas Song as part of Oprah's final Favorite Things TV special.
To close the giveaway show Winfrey gave her entire studio audience 2012 Volkswagen Beetle cars. The ecstatic members of the Oprah audience will be the first people to drive the redesigned car, which won't be available to the motoring public before May, 2011.
Crooners JOHNNY MATHIS and JOSH GROBAN teamed up for their first duet on THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW on Monday (22Nov10).
The two stars, who both have recorded hit Christmas albums, sang a rendition of The Christmas Song as part of Oprah's final Favorite Things TV special.
To close the giveaway show Winfrey gave her entire studio audience 2012 Volkswagen Beetle cars. The ecstatic members of the Oprah audience will be the first people to drive the redesigned car, which won't be available to the motoring public before May, 2011.
New is coming in fast and furious from Motown today. The Tigers have indeed promoted OF Casper Wells from Toledo as expected and in order to clear a roster spot, they have designated for assignment the contract of RHP Enrique Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was mentioned in my previous post as a possibility to be moved out and in my opinion, this was a natural choice. Gonzalez was working as a starter in Toledo before being recalled earlier this year to serve as a long reliever for the Tigers. He’s been good at times, but has had trouble with command. He’s also nothing more than organizational depth as far as the Tigers are concerned.
With the big club no longer contending for the post-season, Gonzalez was simply blocking other younger arms from getting much-needed big league innings. I expect he’ll go unclaimed and with the end of Toledo’s season near, the Tigers will likely just release him.
The bigger news is that an unknown team has claimed DH Johnny Damon, who was put on waivers last week by the Tigers. Detroit has 48 hours to work out a trade with the claiming team. If no deal is reached, Detroit can opt to pull Damon back and retain his services for the remainder of the year, or they could simply let him go and allow the claiming team to take Damon, along with the balance of his contract.
Jon Heyman, for one, believes the Tigers will let Damon go if they cannot work out a trade. Out of habit, I generally disagree with Heyman but this time is different. The Tigers have nothing left to play for and Wells, for one, could use the at bats. That said, the Tigers also have a responsibility to their fans to put a quality product on the field.
Wells can get his at bats simply by taking up the ones that have been given to Don Kelly lately. I know Kelly has been hot, but again, he’s not a long-term solution for the Tigers. If Damon is retained, the Tigers have a better lineup, no question about that. But with or without Damon, the Tigers are going to finish in third place.
Let’s just hope Detroit can pull a prospect or two in exchange for Damon. Salary dumps aren’t very much fun to write about.
***UPDATE: According to multiple reports, the Boston Red Sox are the team awarded the claim of Damon. Boston has a need in the outfield that Damon could certainly fill, but there’s a complication. Damon has a no-trade clause in his contract that includes the Red Sox, so he has the power to nix a deal to them.
In fact, not only does Damon have veto power over a trade to the Red Sox, he can also block a straight waiver claim to them, so if Damon elects not to go to Boston, the Tigers will have to keep him. This still doesn’t seem like a terrible idea to me anyway. If nothing else, the next 48 hours should be interesting. Stay tuned…
New is coming in fast and furious from Motown today. The Tigers have indeed promoted OF Casper Wells from Toledo as expected and in order to clear a roster spot, they have designated for assignment the contract of RHP Enrique Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was mentioned in my previous post as a possibility to be moved out and in my opinion, this was a natural choice. Gonzalez was working as a starter in Toledo before being recalled earlier this year to serve as a long reliever for the Tigers. He’s been good at times, but has had trouble with command. He’s also nothing more than organizational depth as far as the Tigers are concerned.
With the big club no longer contending for the post-season, Gonzalez was simply blocking other younger arms from getting much-needed big league innings. I expect he’ll go unclaimed and with the end of Toledo’s season near, the Tigers will likely just release him.
The bigger news is that an unknown team has claimed DH Johnny Damon, who was put on waivers last week by the Tigers. Detroit has 48 hours to work out a trade with the claiming team. If no deal is reached, Detroit can opt to pull Damon back and retain his services for the remainder of the year, or they could simply let him go and allow the claiming team to take Damon, along with the balance of his contract.
Jon Heyman, for one, believes the Tigers will let Damon go if they cannot work out a trade. Out of habit, I generally disagree with Heyman but this time is different. The Tigers have nothing left to play for and Wells, for one, could use the at bats. That said, the Tigers also have a responsibility to their fans to put a quality product on the field.
Wells can get his at bats simply by taking up the ones that have been given to Don Kelly lately. I know Kelly has been hot, but again, he’s not a long-term solution for the Tigers. If Damon is retained, the Tigers have a better lineup, no question about that. But with or without Damon, the Tigers are going to finish in third place.
Let’s just hope Detroit can pull a prospect or two in exchange for Damon. Salary dumps aren’t very much fun to write about.
***UPDATE: According to multiple reports, the Boston Red Sox are the team awarded the claim of Damon. Boston has a need in the outfield that Damon could certainly fill, but there’s a complication. Damon has a no-trade clause in his contract that includes the Red Sox, so he has the power to nix a deal to them.
In fact, not only does Damon have veto power over a trade to the Red Sox, he can also block a straight waiver claim to them, so if Damon elects not to go to Boston, the Tigers will have to keep him. This still doesn’t seem like a terrible idea to me anyway. If nothing else, the next 48 hours should be interesting. Stay tuned…
Johnny Maestro, who started out singing on the New York subways and a few years later recorded one of the great teen love anthems, "Sixteen Candles," died late Wednesday night in Florida after a battle with cancer. He was 70.
A distinctive and highly respected vocalist both among his peers and fans of early rock ‘n' roll, Maestro spent his life in the music business, scoring hits as lead singer of the Crests in the 1950s and then the Brooklyn Bridge a decade later.
He continued performing live shows with the Brooklyn Bridge until he was diagnosed several months ago with an invasive cancer.
The Crests were best known for "Sixteen Candles," which peaked at No. 2 on the national charts and later lent its name to a John Hughes movie in which Hughes used a later Stray Cats version of the title song.
"Sixteen Candles" was originally written as "21 Candles," but the number was downsized on the theory that "16" would better reflect the rock 'n' roll demographic.
The Crests followed with a number of catchy uptempo hits, including "Trouble In Paradise," "The Angels Listened In" and "Step By Step" – though many R&B aficionados today favor their lesser-known early classic ballads like "Sweetest One" and "No One To Love."
Maestro, who was born Johnny Mastrangelo and grew up on Mulberry St., broke off in 1961 for a solo career that went nowhere. Then in 1968 he formed the Brooklyn Bridge, whose swelling instrumental and vocal sound scored a No. 3 hit in early 1969 with "The Worst That Could Happen."
The Bridge also had some lesser hits, including "Blessed Is the Rain" and "Welcome Me Love."
While Maestro had one of the strongest and most distinctive voices in early rock ‘n' roll, he was not a flamboyant personality and didn't seek the spotlight off-stage.
In many ways, he was the quintessential New York kid singer of the ‘50s. He began singing for fun on the streets and in subway stations, which had the perfect echo for harmony vocals.
He was unusual in that he often performed with black singers at a time when interracial groups were a relative rarity. In 1956 at the Henry Street Settlement, he met a black group from the Alfred E. Smith projects in Chinatown and became their lead singer.
Their members included second tenor Patricia Van Dross, who had a kid brother named Luther.
Bass J.T. Carter named them the Crests and they were singing on the Lexington Avenue IRT, coming out of the Brooklyn Bridge station, when a woman handed them a business card and told them to contact her husband.
He turned out to be Al Browne, a musician, music store and record label owner in Brooklyn. The group recorded "Sweetest One" and "No One To Love" for his low-tech Joyce label, which he ran out of the back room of his shop.
Browne didn't have much promotional power, but a year later songwriter Billy Dawn Smith steered the Crests to Coed Records, which did.
Coed's desire to break Maestro off as a solo artist eventually led to some tension with the other Crests, who included Carter, Talmadge Gough and Hector Torres. When Maestro left, the others kept the group name, though Maestro continued performing "Sixteen Candles" and other Crests songs in Brooklyn Bridge shows.
Maestro recorded occasionally in recent years and he was living in Cape Coral, Fla., at the time of his death.
Johnny Maestro, who started out singing on the New York subways and a few years later recorded one of the great teen love anthems, "Sixteen Candles," died late Wednesday night in Florida after a battle with cancer. He was 70.
A distinctive and highly respected vocalist both among his peers and fans of early rock ‘n' roll, Maestro spent his life in the music business, scoring hits as lead singer of the Crests in the 1950s and then the Brooklyn Bridge a decade later.
He continued performing live shows with the Brooklyn Bridge until he was diagnosed several months ago with an invasive cancer.
The Crests were best known for "Sixteen Candles," which peaked at No. 2 on the national charts and later lent its name to a John Hughes movie in which Hughes used a later Stray Cats version of the title song.
"Sixteen Candles" was originally written as "21 Candles," but the number was downsized on the theory that "16" would better reflect the rock 'n' roll demographic.
The Crests followed with a number of catchy uptempo hits, including "Trouble In Paradise," "The Angels Listened In" and "Step By Step" – though many R&B aficionados today favor their lesser-known early classic ballads like "Sweetest One" and "No One To Love."
Maestro, who was born Johnny Mastrangelo and grew up on Mulberry St., broke off in 1961 for a solo career that went nowhere. Then in 1968 he formed the Brooklyn Bridge, whose swelling instrumental and vocal sound scored a No. 3 hit in early 1969 with "The Worst That Could Happen."
The Bridge also had some lesser hits, including "Blessed Is the Rain" and "Welcome Me Love."
While Maestro had one of the strongest and most distinctive voices in early rock ‘n' roll, he was not a flamboyant personality and didn't seek the spotlight off-stage.
In many ways, he was the quintessential New York kid singer of the ‘50s. He began singing for fun on the streets and in subway stations, which had the perfect echo for harmony vocals.
He was unusual in that he often performed with black singers at a time when interracial groups were a relative rarity. In 1956 at the Henry Street Settlement, he met a black group from the Alfred E. Smith projects in Chinatown and became their lead singer.
Their members included second tenor Patricia Van Dross, who had a kid brother named Luther.
Bass J.T. Carter named them the Crests and they were singing on the Lexington Avenue IRT, coming out of the Brooklyn Bridge station, when a woman handed them a business card and told them to contact her husband.
He turned out to be Al Browne, a musician, music store and record label owner in Brooklyn. The group recorded "Sweetest One" and "No One To Love" for his low-tech Joyce label, which he ran out of the back room of his shop.
Browne didn't have much promotional power, but a year later songwriter Billy Dawn Smith steered the Crests to Coed Records, which did.
Coed's desire to break Maestro off as a solo artist eventually led to some tension with the other Crests, who included Carter, Talmadge Gough and Hector Torres. When Maestro left, the others kept the group name, though Maestro continued performing "Sixteen Candles" and other Crests songs in Brooklyn Bridge shows.
Maestro recorded occasionally in recent years and he was living in Cape Coral, Fla., at the time of his death.
The celebrity death rumors are back once again. Previously, we saw rumored deaths of Eminem, Will Smith, Taylor Swift, Lil' Wayne, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, among others. Today, Sunday, January 24, 2010, we've got new rumors claiming that actor Johnny Depp is dead, with speculation that Johnny Depp car crash occurred. The "Johnny Depp dead" searches have heated up on the internet. So is this news true, and did Johnny Depp die in a car crash?
If the news were true, you'd definitely be hearing about it as a major news story on networks like CNN, CNN Headline News, the Today Show and Fox News. None of these channels, or their associated websites have news of Johnny Depp's demise. You can rest assured that the Pirates of the Carribean and Alice in Wonderland actor is alive and well.
So the answer to "did Johnny Depp die?" is a resounding NO. Some people enjoy starting up fake celebrity death news just to amuse themselves because they have nothing better to do than start internet rumors. The Johnny Depp dead rumors are part of many other celebrity death hoaxes that have been put together, many of which use the common car crash as the means of demise.
The celebrity death rumors are back once again. Previously, we saw rumored deaths of Eminem, Will Smith, Taylor Swift, Lil' Wayne, Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, among others. Today, Sunday, January 24, 2010, we've got new rumors claiming that actor Johnny Depp is dead, with speculation that Johnny Depp car crash occurred. The "Johnny Depp dead" searches have heated up on the internet. So is this news true, and did Johnny Depp die in a car crash?
If the news were true, you'd definitely be hearing about it as a major news story on networks like CNN, CNN Headline News, the Today Show and Fox News. None of these channels, or their associated websites have news of Johnny Depp's demise. You can rest assured that the Pirates of the Carribean and Alice in Wonderland actor is alive and well.
So the answer to "did Johnny Depp die?" is a resounding NO. Some people enjoy starting up fake celebrity death news just to amuse themselves because they have nothing better to do than start internet rumors. The Johnny Depp dead rumors are part of many other celebrity death hoaxes that have been put together, many of which use the common car crash as the means of demise.
The Pirates of Caribbean actor Johnny Depp got involved this morning on a car accident. Rumors are spreading that johnny Depp is now dead but this is not true! Johnny is in good condition but this car was just been crushed up because of the car accident.
The rumors are also spreading that Johnny Depp was drunk when a tourist spotted the car at the Bordeaux, France. As of now Johnny Depp haven’t answered this issue since he is busy let us wait for more updates about this issue and let’s see if Captain Jack is still alive or no. But we hope i is not really true.
The Pirates of Caribbean actor Johnny Depp got involved this morning on a car accident. Rumors are spreading that johnny Depp is now dead but this is not true! Johnny is in good condition but this car was just been crushed up because of the car accident.
The rumors are also spreading that Johnny Depp was drunk when a tourist spotted the car at the Bordeaux, France. As of now Johnny Depp haven’t answered this issue since he is busy let us wait for more updates about this issue and let’s see if Captain Jack is still alive or no. But we hope i is not really true.
Three weeks ago, Malibu's Johnny Strange delivered a message from the top of Mt. Everest, stating, "Stop Genocide." But he carries another message for fellow teenagers: Pursue your dreams and meet challenges head-on. Strange, 17, after scaling the world's tallest peak at 29,035 feet, flew from the Himalayas to Australia and on Monday (Tuesday in Australia) strolled to the top of 7,310-foot Mt. Kosciuszko to become the youngest person in the world to have climbed the highest peak on seven continents, known collectively as the Seven Summits. Strange beat a record held by Long Beach mountaineer Samantha Larson, who achieved the Seven Summits when she was 18. Afterward Strange typed an e-mail to family and friends that read: "Never let anyone stifle your dreams no matter the feat, for if you have the heart and the courage, impossible is nothing." It helps to have a wealthy attorney and fellow adventurer as a father, but this should steal nothing from Strange's accomplishment. He climbed Antarctica's Mt. Vinson when he was 12 to set this project in motion, and Everest is daunting for climbers of any age and experience level because of its perilously thin air and unpredictable nature (six climbers have died on Everest this season). Strange reached the summit of Everest two days after Utah's Johnny Collinson stood on top of the world. Collinson also is 17 and he's trying to bag the Seven Summits within a calendar year. Strange said he chose Kosciuszko instead of Everest as his final Seven Summits peak because he wanted to tackle Everest "as a lone experience, not part of the Seven Summit goal."Malibu's Johnny Strange, 17, becomes youngest to bag Seven Summits
Three weeks ago, Malibu's Johnny Strange delivered a message from the top of Mt. Everest, stating, "Stop Genocide." But he carries another message for fellow teenagers: Pursue your dreams and meet challenges head-on. Strange, 17, after scaling the world's tallest peak at 29,035 feet, flew from the Himalayas to Australia and on Monday (Tuesday in Australia) strolled to the top of 7,310-foot Mt. Kosciuszko to become the youngest person in the world to have climbed the highest peak on seven continents, known collectively as the Seven Summits. Strange beat a record held by Long Beach mountaineer Samantha Larson, who achieved the Seven Summits when she was 18. Afterward Strange typed an e-mail to family and friends that read: "Never let anyone stifle your dreams no matter the feat, for if you have the heart and the courage, impossible is nothing." It helps to have a wealthy attorney and fellow adventurer as a father, but this should steal nothing from Strange's accomplishment. He climbed Antarctica's Mt. Vinson when he was 12 to set this project in motion, and Everest is daunting for climbers of any age and experience level because of its perilously thin air and unpredictable nature (six climbers have died on Everest this season). Strange reached the summit of Everest two days after Utah's Johnny Collinson stood on top of the world. Collinson also is 17 and he's trying to bag the Seven Summits within a calendar year. Strange said he chose Kosciuszko instead of Everest as his final Seven Summits peak because he wanted to tackle Everest "as a lone experience, not part of the Seven Summit goal."Malibu's Johnny Strange, 17, becomes youngest to bag Seven Summits