Stranger Fruit

Who am I?

Posted by John Lynch on July 31, 2006
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A quick puzzle …

I was born on this day in 1860 and have a 10502 foot peak named after me in Alberta. I helped my better-known husband (whom I married at the age of 54) with his fieldwork in Canada, but am also known as an illustrator.

And a quick visual clue:

i-1fda5cdd52f68b8e0260ece99a1ce577-sa73.jpg

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Comments

  1. #1 Friend Fruit
    July 31, 2006

    Mount Olive

    History: The peak was named in 1898 by H.B. Dixon, for his wife. Another source states that the name comes from the drab green shales in the peak. (Name status: Official)

    10502 foot

    I thought Canada had adopted the metric system?

  2. #2 Friend Fruit
    July 31, 2006

    Origin Notes and History

    “Named in 1897 by Professor Harold Dixon because of the colour of its’ rock.” (Canadian Alpine Journal Vol XVI, 1926, p.251)
    Source: included with note
    .
    “Named in 1899 by H.B. Dixon of the English Alpine Club, for his wife.” (Alberta Place Names, 1928). [Note: the form "Mount Olive" adopted by the Geographic Board tends to confirm this version; as a rule, if a mountain is named after a person, the generic "Mount" would preceed the specific; if the feature is named because of its colour or an inanimate object, the form "Olive Mountain" would have been adopted.]
    Source: included with note

  3. #3 Søren Kongstad
    July 31, 2006

    Answer disguised by tinyurl:
    http://tinyurl.com/ew2gd

    And I abused google to reach the answer ;)

  4. #4 John Lynch
    July 31, 2006

    >I thought Canada had adopted the metric system?

    Just making things easy for our American friends!

    > “Mount Olive”

    Nope.

  5. #5 John Lynch
    July 31, 2006

    Søren:

    The google abuse paid off.

  6. #6 Friend Fruit
    July 31, 2006

    I’m surprised! 3201 m peaks abound.

    Neptune Peak and Foster peak in British Columbia as well, with others in New Zealand, Taiwan and elsewhere.

    I’m guessing 10,500 feet got rounded to meters, and when reconverted came out as 10,502 ft.

  7. #7 pough
    July 31, 2006

    My initial guess was on the right track, but it was thrown off by the fact that she is his third wife; I didn’t read far enough in the Wikipedia entry.

    BTW, I’m dying to go to that peak some day. I’ve been close to it two or three times but I didn’t know until afterwards. My dream is to create a photo-art series of Noah and his kin descending from the Ark onto that peak, as though it’s Ararat. I think that would have enough delicious irony to make it worthwhile.