Today marks the 20th anniversary of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, when eight mountain climbers died while caught in a blizzard. The disaster was documented in the book and subsequent film Into Thin Air.
Harbor Springs resident Lou Kasischke was part of the group on the mountain that day, and wrote his own book about the experience. After the Wind was published in 2014.
But Kasischke’s book is not just about what happened on Mount Everest. It’s about his relationship with his wife, Sandy, and how she was there with him that day and helped save his life.
"I'm convinced that the last inner voice that spoke to me was the voice of Sandy's heart," says Kasischke. "I needed strength to overcome my unbridled ambition, my own self-centeredness [and] my own pressure to succeed."
Lou Kasischke joined All Things Considered host Aaron Selbig to talk about his experiences.