LIFE ON THE EDGE

"Did you keep soloing after that?" I ask.
"You know," Erickson responds, "people are interested in this one part of me. I would have given up any of it to write one profoundly beautiful piece of music, despite all the wonderful things I apparently did in climbing. The fact that people know who I am is not much fun for me. I can see why very famous people hate it. To beat a reporter over the head makes perfect sense to me."

"No kidding," I say. "What do you think of indoor climbing walls?"
"This spring, I actually hung out at one for a month."
"Did anyone recognize you?"

"A few," he says, "but mainly they laughed at me and my archaic equipment. I had climbing shoes with what I considered brand-new sticky rubber soles. These shoes dated to 1978, which I consider new. These shoes," he laughs, "were definitely non-a la mode."

end of part 1