About the Book
The plan was outrageous: A small team of four climbers would attempt a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest, considered the most remote and dangerous side of the mountain, which had only been successfully climbed once before. Unlike the first large team, Mimi Zieman and her team would climb without using supplemental oxygen or porter support. While the unpredictable weather and high altitude of 29,035 feet make climbing Everest perilous in any condition, attempting a new route, with no idea of what obstacles lay ahead, was especially audacious. Team members were expected to push themselves to their limits and to find a way to tackle the improbable. Zieman would accompany the climbers as the “doctor”—and the only woman—although she was only in her third year of medical school. On Everest, when three of their climbers disappeared during their summit attempt, Zieman reached the knife edge of her limits and dug deeply to call upon a well of resilience and courage.
Tap Dancing on Everest recounts Mimi Zieman’s unlikely journey from an upbringing in an Orthodox Jewish community in 1970s New York City as the daughter of immigrants, to an audacious and historic Everest expedition in 1988.
About the Author :
Mimi Zieman is a board-certified OB/GYN, author, speaker, and reproductive rights activist. She was a founding member of the scientific Society of Family Planning and served as Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood Southeast. She received the Georgia 2019 “Women Who Dare” award from the National Council of Jewish Women, where she currently chairs the reproductive justice committee. She has lectured nationally and internationally for professional medical organizations and other groups, and has been interviewed by media outlets including CNN, Fox News, Georgia Week in Review, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chicago Tribune, Cosmopolitan, Brides, Redbook, Glamour, Fitness, Esquire, and Good Day Atlanta. Zieman has treated frozen limbs on the highest mountain, delivered triplets near the world’s deepest ocean trench, tap danced in Broadway studios, and has been a suburban mom of three—all experiences that have prepared her for unexpected challenges. Her memoir, TAP DANCING ON EVEREST, is inspired by her outrageous pioneering Everest expedition, where she served as the team’s doctor when she was a young medical student. Her writing has appeared in Ms. Magazine, NBC News THINK, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Sun, and the Atlanta Jewish Times. Zieman has co-authored sixteen editions of Managing Contraception. Most recently, she wrote and produced a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, which was performed in August 2022 and will be performed in October as a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. Zieman lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Review :
"A captivating story, seldom told, about what it's like to take care of Everest climbers from the perspective of a feisty expedition doctor. This page-turner is a must-read for real and armchair adventurers everywhere."
"The small band that formed the Everest '88 team will be remembered as free spirits who went to the unknown and embraced the true spirit of adventure, a far cry from today's narrative on Everest, and an essential addition to mountain literature. In Tap Dancing on Everest, expedition doctor Mimi Zieman brings to life the toll experienced by non-climbers on an expedition, what it was truly like not knowing if her teammates would return, and ultimately, what it took to heal their wounds. While recalling her tap-dancing days, this book is also a metaphor of a different kind of tap dance, that of survival on the roof of the world."
"What would lead a young female medical student from New York City who lived a life of shoulds and expectations to join an unaided climb up Everest as the team doctor? That young woman was Mimi Zieman and, in her memoir Tap Dancing on Everest, she unravels what brought her to that mountain years ago. In beautiful prose, Zieman brings us into her family's Jewish immigrant roots, her city childhood, her dream to become a dancer, and how climbing and adventure helped her reconcile her past with the woman she became."
"Tap Dancing on Everest captures Zieman's journey to move beyond the walls of her fear both to create a world for herself and to create a safer world for others."
"Tap Dancing on Everest is that rare book that manages to capture the adrenaline rush of a thrilling adventure and the gut-wrenching pathos of an epic tragedy. Mimi Zieman is telling a story that readers will be unable to put down--not just about life and death on the world's most dangerous mountain, but about how we, as human beings, too often have to put ourselves in extreme danger to feel fully alive. I was utterly captivated by this story. You will be, too."
"[This] story touched me deeply."
"A riveting memoir... The overall quality of the writing is exceptional... A beautiful, wrenching story about the trials that we endure and the rewards we reap."
"Climbing Everest was not on Mimi Zieman's bucket list. But after a lifetime of trying--and often failing-to "follow the rules" of growing up a good Jewish girl with the right body, the right boyfriend and the right personality, the challenge of the vast mountain calls her...By turns gripping and charming, tragic and joyful, Zieman's rocky, ultimately revelatory journey shows how the true triumph of the summit is the discovery of her calling."
"From page one, Tap Dancing on Everest draws you into the heart-stopping world of mountaineering. An engaging narrative rich in details and vulnerability, the story captures the adventure in reaching beyond one's comfort zone and into the unknown."
"Mimi Zieman is brave, tough, and impressive when on Everest, and lively, engaging, and funny when on the page. After returning from her climb, she says she was "very grateful for ceilings." I myself, am grateful for her vivid recounting of all her journeys."
"Mimi Zieman's book is an ideal alchemy of grit and grace. The lessons Zieman learns on the mountain are important lessons for us all. A wild and deeply satisfying journey."
"Mimi Zieman's compelling and very personal memoir recounts with warmth and insight how her father survived the holocaust, her challenging childhood, her courage and determination in the face of continued obstacles, and the passion and persistence that bring her to the roof of the world. "
"Tap Dancing on Everest" is gorgeous. It is so full of joy, zest and fun and yet with some profound thoughts. Once started you cannot put it down."
"The best ascent of Everest in terms and style of pure adventure."
"The story takes place on a frozen summit but is bound to melt your heart. The courage that drove her to this unlikely adventure permeates her candid recounting of her breathtaking tale."
"Will Zieman's strengths be enough in the face of Everest's special and grueling challenges? Libraries and readers who choose Tap Dancing on Everest will find out - and will also discover a special sense of joy, accomplishment, and growth in Zieman's experiences. This translates nicely to a thoroughly engrossing adventure that will prove hard to put down, whether the audience is composed of physicians, would-be mountain climbers, or armchair adventurers looking for a 'you are here' feel of excitement."
"With a poetic vision that is staggering in its honesty and beauty, Mimi Zieman brings readers into the heart of a Himalayan ascent, guiding us along some of the unexpected pathways that intense adventures can trace in both body and mind."
An engaging memoir about "taking risks" as "a path to growth."
