Forbes editor dies on Rainier

Associated Press

ASHFORD — The London-based editor of Forbes Global magazine has died on a guided ascent of Mount Rainier. Park officials said a heart attack was the most likely cause.

Lawrence "Laury" Minard, 51, died Thursday at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, said Peter Whittaker, operations manager of Rainier Mountaineering Inc. Minard’s 16-year-old daughter also was on the climb.

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

The death occurred as about 25 climbers and guides ascended Disappointment Cleaver, one of the steepest parts of the popular route to the 14,411-foot summit.

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.

"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 as Minard’s daughter and the other climbers watched.

Mount Rainier National Park officials said the suddenness of the collapse indicated a heart attack. An autopsy was pending.

Minard, a native of Seattle, joined Forbes in 1974 and became special correspondent in Asia in 1978, European bureau chief in London in 1979 and West Coast and Asia bureau chief in 1983. He was appointed managing editor in 1989.

He was appointed editor of Forbes Global when it was launched in September 1997 and often wrote its "Sidelines" column.

Minard’s "extraordinary intellect, unflagging energy, insatiable curiosity and impressive knowledge of business here and abroad made him a superb reporter and editor," Steve Forbes, president and editor-in-chief of Forbes Inc., said in a statement. "We deeply mourn his loss."