The good Hilary is gone

Sir Edmund Hilary died yesterday.
While a certain presidential candidate once claimed to have been named for him, his fame stands alone at the top of the world. (And why do I hear Jimmy Cagney's voice in my head: "Top of the world, Ma, top of the world!" Just cause I'm weird, I guess.)
Sir Edmund was, of course, the first man (if you don't count Tenzing Norgay, who probably was the first up the slope at the end; he died in 1986) to climb Mount Everest, and thus stand atop the highest point on the planet.
That was when Rico was only one, so he doesn't actually remember the feat first-hand.
But I have followed his career as a benefactor to the Nepalese people, building hospitals and roads in that poor country.
He was a good man, and a hero in spite of himself.
May he rest in piece.