Peter
has always felt a connection to and a unique sense of comfort amid nature and foreign environs.
While MS has greatly limited him, particularly from
a physical standpoint, below is a glimpse into some of the amazing experiences our beneficiary has been fortunate to "endure."
It is, therfore, easy
to understand how those experiences have exponentially enriched our Peter's life from a metaphysical
standpoint.
It is the fervent hope of
the organizers and attendees of THE BENEFIT that Peter will again be able to tackle physical challenges and obstacles such as those below that have made him
an inspiration to his family, close personal friends and scores of acquaintances.
Here then
are "but a few" of Peter Earley's Earlier Exploits:
For 3 summers before attaining the age of 10, Peter delighted in the New England coast. Fishing,
body surfing and catching blow fish and sand crabs were a part of his glorious ritual.
At the age of 10, he rode and pack-tripped horses up to 12,000
feet in Cody, Wyoming amid the Rocky Mountains.
Rafted the Shoshone River and experienced sulfur springs for the first time that same summer.
Canoed and inner-tubed the Little Miami
River in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hiked
and camped the Smoky Mountains.
Inner-tubed down Boulder Creek in a town race.
Learned to cross-country and downhill ski Black Diamond out of Boulder and Denver, Colorado.
Ran Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
in 1 hour and 56 minutes at altitude in Boulder.
Camped on the Continental Divide.
Calf-branded 750 head of cattle during two summers in Douglas, Wyoming.
Sailed a 30ft Columbia yacht with 8 fraternity brothers
(and a case of rum) in the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas.
Was a member of a Fore Deck Crew one season on a Soling (largest of Olympic class
yachts) out of the St. Francis Yacht Club - San Francisco, California.
Crewed for an ocean race on a 50 ft. ketch during a Pacific storm outside of San Franciso; then
down to Monterrey and up to the Farralons before returing home by midnight of the same day.
Completed 2 successive 200-Mile 12-speed
bike campaigns along the Sacramento RIver from Concord to Sacto, California and back. His best 100-Mile time was 6 hours!
Received parachute certification for his 2 jumps north
of Antioch, California.
Trekked and camped Kauai, Hawaii's Napali Coast (an 11-Mile trail) 3 times and "Saw God with Pliedes
at night!"
Thrilled
to suba diving in Kauai which he simply terms as "awesome!"
White water rafted on a Level 5-Rated river in New Zealand.
Fell in love with Milford Sound and all of South Island,
New Zealand.
Learned
to scuba 4-Day dives and one night dive out of Cairns, Australia on the Great Barrier Reef under Haley's Comet.
Walked the Great Wall of China.
Toured the Terra Cotta Warriors of Tian,
China.
Dirt-biked a rubber
tree grove on Phuket Island, Thailand the week of his 30th Birthday.
Golfed the Calcutta Golf Course, the world's 2nd oldest golf course.
Trekked the Himalayas up to 12, 000 feet and met a yak
nose to nose at midnight.
Slept at the foot of Annapurna, then trekked down 1,000 feet and up 1,400 feet in the morning.
For 20 rupees, Peter had his ears cleaned in the Public
Green in New Delhi, India.
Saw White and Black Taj Mahal and rode an elephant near the Red Fort, India.
Rode a camel at sunset at The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.
Biked from Oslo, Norway up to the Olympic
ski lift and back.
Rode a
freighter from Bergen to Sundsvald, Norway to glory in the North Sea for 3 days.
One of the more inauscpcious events was when Peter fell from
a moving train as it was leaving Nuremburg, Germany.
Walked Interlaken, Switzerland at the foot of the Eiger.
Walked up the Eiffel Tower and was "awed by Rodin's
The Thinker.
Was equally awed
by Michelangelo's David, The Pieta, the Vatican, the Shroud of Turin and the Leaning Tower of Pisa."
Upon returning to the United States,
walked up the Staute of Liberty on Liberty Island.
Learned rock-climbing at the Joshua Tree National Monument.
Completed Tom Brown Tracker Course, a wilderness suirvival introduction course in Pine
Barren, New Jersey.
Swam with
the dolphins on Isla de Mujeres, Mexico.
Fished for salmon outside of San Francisco, near the Farralon Islands and hooked a 40 pounder; then
had a tug-o-war with a seal for the prize. The seal got the fish; Peter got the jaw bone.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
INCLUDED:
Won MSU Greek Week Canoe Race in 1978 with Lance Miller.
Along with Richard van den Bosch was the Paddleball Doubles
Champion; also in 1978.
MSU Intramural Football (Rush-Nose Guard/Center). Two years Wonders Dorm League Champs and one
year Fraternity League Champs (PSI U).
MSU-Intramural Softball (3rd Base).
Also two years Wonders Dorm League Champs and one year Fraternity League Champs.
Was MSU Women's intramural building
serices supervisor from 1975-1978.
MSU intramural floor hockey and inner tube water polo referee and softball umpire in 1975 and 1976.
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC
ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDED:
Finneytown High School (FHS), Cincinnati, Ohio - Varsity starting center and linebacker; sophomore through
senior years. Was senior year All City Center and Captain of the varsity football team. Was All County 5 years
running. Was center for the City Best Kicking Contest winner, Jay Schrier, in 1974 Played right field for the
FHS baseball team.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, the above aren't nearly all of the physical accomplishments
that Peter Earley has attained up to young adulthood. Things that appear rather inconceivable to most sedintary individuals
but were commonplace for this man are, therefore, likely more sorely missed from his lifestyle than would be the case with
most.
