Forbes executive dies during Rainier climb

Business editor E. Lawrence "Laury" Minard III loved to travel, but airplanes meant more to him than a way to get from place to place.

"I used to ask him, `How can you travel (as much as you do?)' " said Nigel Holloway, deputy editor of Forbes Global, a magazine Mr. Minard helped found.

"Growing up in Juneau, airplanes meant either his grandparents coming to visit with lots of goodies for him, or a plane taking him out of Juneau to the world beyond. They were always associated with good things."

In addition to traveling for work and pleasure, Mr. Minard was an active skier, sailor and mountain climber.

He died Thursday while climbing Mount Rainier with one of his daughters. He was 51.

Mr. Minard died at 7:30 a.m. at the 12,000-foot level, said Peter Whittaker, operations manager of Rainier Mountaineering Inc.

Cause of death was coronary artery disease, said Ed Duke of the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.

Guides tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other lifesaving techniques for 45 minutes, but Mr. Minard never regained consciousness, Whittaker said.

The death occurred as the group of about 25 climbers and guides ascended Disappointment Cleaver, a rocky outcrop beside the Emmons Glacier and one of the steepest parts of the most popular route to the 14,411-foot summit.

The Minards had rented most of the equipment, and they might have been on their first serious mountain climb, Whittaker said.

Mr. Minard seemed fit and healthy days earlier in a daylong training session on the peak, Whittaker said.

The group's departure from an overnight stop at 10,080-foot Camp Muir was delayed two or three hours because of bad weather and began about 3 a.m., Whittaker said.

About 4-1/2 hours later, Mr. Minard said he was having trouble breathing, asked to unclip from the climbing rope and sat down.

A guide stayed with him while the others headed for a planned rest stop near the top of the cleaver.

"Within a couple of minutes, he stopped breathing," Whittaker said.

Guides halted the climb, began CPR and other emergency measures and established radio contact with a doctor.

The rest of the group made their descent Thursday afternoon. Mr. Minard's daughter was met by his mother, who lives in Seattle.

Mr. Minard was born in Seattle. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and studied political economy at The New School in New York. In 1974, he joined Forbes magazine as a reporter.

At Forbes, Mr. Minard served as managing editor, assistant managing editor and deputy managing editor, and was chief of the West Coast/Asia and European bureaus. In 1999 and 2000, he was named Business Journalist of the Year in London. He helped found Forbes Global, the company's international publication, and often wrote the magazine's "Sidelines" column.

Mr. Minard moved back to London in January to edit there.

Steve Forbes, president and editor in chief of Forbes Inc., had known Mr. Minard since they both were rookie reporters in the 1970s.

"I was very impressed with his knowledge of economics and his ability to see beyond constricting economic theory," Forbes said. "He was worldly and had an independent intellect that could go against conventional wisdom."

Mr. Minard was a good judge of character, Forbes and Holloway said, picking magazine columnists from unlikely backgrounds that were a credit to the publication. He had an array of loyal friends.

"We were journalistic soul mates," said Holloway, who had been hired by Mr. Minard. "We became incredibly close both as friends and colleagues. We got on like a house on fire from the word go."

Mr. Minard was godfather to Holloway's child.

Mr. Minard is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and his daughters, Sara and Julia, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; his parents, Nancy and Everett Lawrence Minard Jr. of Seattle; his brothers, Frank of Seattle and Michael of Prague; and his grandmother, Marguerite Minard of Wenatchee.

A memorial service is expected to be held later this month at Grace Church in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.

Donations may be made to the Lynnwood-based charity Riders for Health, an organization that transports doctors and medicine to remote parts of Africa via motorcycle. The Web-site address is www.riders.org/worldpay.htm.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.

Lisa Heyamoto can be reached at 206-464-2779 or lheyamoto@seattletimes.com.