Here’s a glimpse
of some of my favorite adventurers. The core factual material is drawn from
Wikipedia.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence CB, DSO
(16 August 1888[5]
– 19 May 1935), known professionally as T.
E. Lawrence, was a British
military officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of 1916–18.
His vivid writings, along with the extraordinary breadth and variety of his
activities and associations, have made him the object of fascination throughout
the world as Lawrence of Arabia, a
title popularised by the 1962 film Lawrence of
Arabia based on his life.
Lawrence's
public image was due in part to American journalist Lowell Thomas's
sensationalised reportage of the Revolt, as well as to Lawrence's
autobiographical account, Seven Pillars
of Wisdom.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom is brilliantly written and if the
politicians of the time had listened to Lawrence’s advice regarding re-drawing
the boundaries of the Arab world, the Middle East might not be the center of
turmoil it is today. Part of Lawrence’s continuing appeal is that he was a
shameless self-promoter even as he claimed to want to be out of the spotlight.
There is also speculation that masochism accounted for his enjoyment of the
harsh conditions he endured and that he was gay. He came to be friends with
many of the major figures of his time, including George Bernard Shaw, Nancy
Astor, and Winston Churchill.
SIR RICHARD BURTON
No
relation to the famous actor of the same name, Captain
Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG
FRGS
(19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for
his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his
extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke
29 European, Asian, and African languages.[
Burton's
best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to Mecca, The Book of One Thousand Nights and A Night,
an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand
and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's
abridgement), bringing the Kama Sutra to
publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the
first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay,
utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the
region, to visit the Great Lakes
of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.
Burton
extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in
his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous
books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behavior, travel, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique
feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing
remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.
He
was a captain in the army of the East India
Company serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following
this he was engaged by the Royal
Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an
expedition guided by the locals which discovered Lake Tanganyika. In later
life he served as British consul
in Fernando Po, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow
of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG)
in 1886.
As
with Lawrence of Arabia, part of Burton’s enduring appeal is the mystery and
hints of scandal around his person exploration of sexual practices and his
willingness to defy the prudery of his era. My favorite book about him is The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard
Burton, by Fawn M. Brodie.
ALDOUS HUXLEY
Whereas
many adventurers explore the outer world, Aldous Huxley was more interested in
exploring the interior world. Aldous
Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer
and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He spent
the later part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from
1937 until his death in 1963. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and
wide-ranging output of essays,
he also published short stories, poetry, travel writing, and film stories and
scripts.
Aldous
Huxley was a humanist
and pacifist, and he was
latterly interested in spiritual subjects such as parapsychology and
philosophical mysticism.
He is also well known for advocating and taking psychedelics. In October
1930, the occultist Aleister
Crowley dined with Huxley in Berlin, and to this day rumours persist
that Crowley introduced Huxley to peyote
on that occasion. He was introduced to mescaline (considered to
be the key active ingredient of peyote) by the psychiatrist Humphry Osmond in 1953.[6]
On 24 December 1955, Huxley took his first dose of LSD. Indeed, Huxley was a
pioneer of self-directed psychedelic drug use "in a search for
enlightenment", famously taking 100 micrograms of LSD as he lay dying. His psychedelic drug
experiences are described in the essays The Doors of
Perception (the title deriving from some lines in the book The Marriage
of Heaven and Hell by William Blake), and Heaven and
Hell. Some of his writings on psychedelics became frequent
reading among early hippies.
By
the end of his life Huxley was considered, in some academic circles, a leader
of modern thought and an intellectual of the highest rank.
I
think if you could mix Brave New World
with George Orwell’s 1984, you’d get
a pretty good picture of where we are today and where we’re heading. But you’d
be depressed.
GRAHAM GREENE
Henry Graham Greene OM,
CH
(2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works
explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. Greene
was notable for his ability to combine serious literary acclaim with widespread
popularity.
Although Greene
objected strongly to being described as a Catholic novelist rather than as a
novelist who happened to be Catholic, Catholic religious themes
are at the root of much of his writing, especially the four major Catholic
novels: Brighton Rock,
The Heart of
the Matter, The End of
the Affair and The Power and
the Glory.[1]
Later works such as The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana and The Comedians
also show an avid interest in the workings of international
politics and espionage.
Throughout his
life Greene travelled far from England, to what he called the world's wild and
remote places. The travels led to him being recruited into MI6 by his sister,
Elisabeth, who worked for the organisation; and he was posted to Sierra Leone during the Second World War. Kim Philby, who would
later be revealed as a Soviet double agent, was Greene's
supervisor and friend at MI6.[11][12]
As a novelist he wove the characters he met and the places where he lived into
the fabric of his novels.
Greene first
left Europe at 30 years of age in 1935 on a trip to Liberia, that produced the
travel book
Journey
Without Maps. His 1938 trip to Mexico, to see the effects of the
government's campaign of forced anti-Catholic secularisation, was paid
for by Longman's, thanks to his
friendship with Tom Burns.[13]
That voyage produced two books, the factual The Lawless Roads
(published as Another Mexico in the
U.S.) and the novel The Power and
the Glory. In 1953 the Holy Office
informed Greene that The Power and the
Glory was damaging to the reputation of the priesthood; but later, in a
private audience with Greene, Pope Paul VI told him
that, although parts of his novels would offend some Catholics, he should not
pay attention to the criticism.[14]
Greene travelled to the Haiti
of François
Duvalier, alias "Papa Doc", where occurred the story of The Comedians
(1966). The owner of the Hotel
Oloffson in Port-au-Prince,
where Greene frequently stayed, named a room in his honour.
Greene suffered
from bipolar
disorder,[2]
which had a profound effect on his writing and personal life. In a letter to
his wife Vivien he told her that he had "a character profoundly
antagonistic to ordinary domestic life", and that "unfortunately, the
disease is also one's material”
Although
critics don’t rate it as his finest work and it was made into a mediocre film,
my favorite Greene novel is “The Comedians.” Judging by the news reports coming
out of Haiti, not too much has changed since Greene wrote the book—Papa Doc is
gone but the island’s violence and grinding poverty live on. Most of Greene’s
books seem to have been written when he was in the depressed phase of his
bi-polar condition, although “Travels With My Aunt” and some of his short
stories are exceptions.
WANT TO JOIN OUR GALLERY OF
ADVENTURERS?
Send
me a photo of yourself holding your League
of Adventurers membership card (which I’ll send you upon request---just
send me your name and postal address and one line of self-description) and
I’ll add it! Send it to [email protected]