Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Three Cups of Tea

Stories like this one make me sad. I had never heard of Greg Mortensen or his book "Three Cups of Tea" until just last week. My company held its annual conference in Las Vegas last week and Mortenson gave the keynote speech. From what I understand, Mortenson builds schools and supports education in Central Asia, primarily in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The author and his books have become a worldwide sensation. However, it appears that Mortenson is pulling a Peterman (Seinfeld reference) and that the stories of his life, not to mention his philanthropic efforts, are primarily fabricated. The story below ran on 60 Minutes last Sunday. Though Mortenson refutes the claims, it appears that he has used the facade of philanthropy to bankroll an extravagant lifestyle. "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil..."

- Joel


3 comments:

starnes family said...

Wow. I have this book on my shelf ready to read and now I'm not sure I will. Initially, "A Million Little Pieces" came to mind.....the book Oprah endorsed....and then turned out to be untrue....at least partially.

It seems as though this man does "do good", but has a hard time keeping his facts straight. Quite interesting.

And, on a side note.....can you imagine receiving a letter from 60 Minutes requesting to talk?! Heart stopping.

Joel said...

I don't know what's more heart stopping - a letter from 60 Minutes or when they show up to one of your book signings. Yikes.

I think this raises an interesting question: how does the messenger impact the message?

starnes family said...

I think he greatly impacts the message. I do read fiction.....but know it's fiction when I'm reading.

If I trust something is a memoir or a true account, it has a deeper meaning to it and thus, when it's proven false, it can be harmful in my opinion.