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<\/a>Here I am, once again in the middle of summer in Scottsdale<\/strong> where the average temperature rivals the inside of my oven.\u00a0 It’s actually been okay this year, partly because I’ve had a lot of projects to keep me busy and partly because I ran into a person with a shitty attitude<\/strong> at the gym.\u00a0 Nothing makes me more irritated than people who endlessly whine and complain.\u00a0 So when I met up with a woman who went on and on…and on…about how hot the weather was I looked her in the eye and said, “It’s all in your attitude”.\u00a0 I have been thinking about attitude and approach these past couple of weeks.\u00a0 On our visit to Mammoth lakes we re-visited the Mammoth Museum where I reflected on the tributes to Jill Kinmont<\/strong>.\u00a0 It was Jill – or at least a book about her – that first taught me about a positive approach to life.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jill-SI-231x300.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Jill Kinmont SI Cover<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Jill Kinmont was an accomplished ski racer<\/strong> from Bishop, California in the early 1950’s.\u00a0 She skied on the Mammoth Mountain team, coached by Dave McCoy (see my previous post about him).\u00a0 To say that Jill was a sensation is an understatement.\u00a0 She was one of the brightest American prospects<\/strong> for the 1956 Olympic team.\u00a0 In addition, she was the very embodiment of mid-century good looks – blonde hair, blue eyes and a perky personality.\u00a0 In January, 1955 she was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated,\u00a0<\/em>and tragically was one of the worst examples of the “SI curse”.\u00a0 The same week that her cover was published she fell on a run during the Snow Cup in Alta, Utah and broke her neck.\u00a0 She was paralyzed from the neck down<\/strong> and the doctors told her family that she would only live another five years. At 18, her life as she knew it was over. But friends like fellow ski racer Andrea Mead Lawrence and Dave McCoy urged her not to accept that prognosis.\u00a0 Jill, being a natural competitor, was determined to make a life for herself.\u00a0 She insisted that she was going to walk – and ski – again.\u00a0 She was never able to accomplish those goals but the remainder of her life was lived in a way that is a lesson to us all.<\/p>\n Despite being confined to a wheelchair, she had the use of neck and shoulder muscles<\/strong> and learned to write, type and paint with the aid of a hand brace. \u00a0 She applied to UCLA and graduated with a degree in German and English.\u00a0 But when she applied to the university’s school of education she was rejected because of her disability. Undaunted, she moved north with her parents, earned a teaching certificate at the University of Washington and taught remedial reading<\/strong> in elementary schools on Mercer Island.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Jill Teaching<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n When she and her mother returned to Los Angeles after her father died in 1967,\u00a0 one Southern California school district after another refused to hire her<\/strong>.\u00a0 Finally, the Beverly Hills District employed her as a remedial reading teacher where she taught for several years.\u00a0 She spent her summers back in Bishop teaching children at the Paiute Indian reservation<\/strong>.\u00a0 In 1975 she and her mother moved back to Bishop where she was hired and spent the next 21 years with special needs kids at Bishop Union Elementary School. When a new high school opened in Bishop, the students voted to name it the Jill Kinmont Boothe School. She oversaw the Indian Education Fund,<\/strong> which provides scholarships to local Native American youth, and had a local following as a painter.\u00a0 The proceeds from her art sales were donated to the scholarship fund.<\/p>\n As if her physical injuries weren’t enough Jill also had to endure losses in her romantic life<\/strong>.\u00a0 At the time of her injury she was dating the skiing phenom Buddy Werner<\/strong>.\u00a0 After her accident he couldn’t handle her injured state and broke off their relationship.\u00a0 He died a few years later in an avalanche.\u00a0 She then dated and became engaged to daredevil skier Dick “Mad Dog” Buek<\/strong> but before they could marry he died in a small plane crash.\u00a0 All that tragedy in one life is almost unimaginable.\u00a0 But luck was finally on her side when she met John Boothe in Bishop.\u00a0 They were married in 1976 and they lived a wonderful life until her death in 2012.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Jill Painting<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n I first learned about Jill Kinmont’s story in 1969 when someone gave me a copy of “A Long Way Up”<\/strong>, the story of her life to that point.\u00a0 The book was subsequently made into a popular movie, “The Other Side of the Mountain”.\u00a0 Her story was so inspiring that I’ve often thought about her during tough times.\u00a0 Her spirit and attitude provide a positive and upbeat touchstone<\/strong>.\u00a0 I wish I had 100 copies of her book because in my fantasy life here’s what I’d do with them: when someone complains endlessly about 105 degree weather, I’d shove Jill’s book in their face<\/strong> and tell them to get a life.\u00a0 Or, perhaps, I would quote Jill herself, who told the LA Times when they named her Woman of the Year in 1967<\/strong>, “To get mad, to scream and holler, to tell the world off\u2014 that doesn’t get you anywhere.\u00a0 You look for what’s good that’s left, I guess.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson Here I am, once again in the middle of summer in Scottsdale where the average temperature rivals the inside of my oven.\u00a0 It’s actually been okay this year, partly because I’ve had a lot of projects … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jill-teaching-215x300.jpg\")
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