Norman Vaughan Obituary [4min @ 10:41]

"Dream big, and dare to fail." Words to live by, certainly. For most of us, though, they might mean giving a PowerPoint presentation without backing up the file, or driving for an extra half hour with the fuel gauge on "E". For Norman Vaughan -- explorer, dog-sled racer, and all-'round adventurer -- those words were his personal motto, and he dreamed bigger than the average person. Norman Vaughan was the last surviving member of Admiral Richard Byrd's expedition to Antarctica, and he died on Friday. He had celebrated his 100th birthday four days earlier. Even as a young man, Mr. Vaughan developed what would be a life-long fascination with polar exploration. By 19, he had dropped out of college, and was dog-sledding and working with indigenous people in Newfoundland and Labrador. By 22, he had joined Admiral Byrd's three-year journey to the South Pole. He worked with dogs on that expedition, transporting supplies and fellow explorers across the frozen terrain. Admiral Byrd was so impressed by the young musher that he named a mountain after him: Mount Vaughan. Having accomplished one big dream, Mr. Vaughan set out to realize others. In 1932, he took part in the Winter Olympics as a dog driver. During the Second World War, he worked with a special search-and-rescue unit, at one point saving 26 airmen whose planes had run out of fuel, from an ice sheet in Greenland. In 1967, at 62, he drove a snowmobile from Alaska to Boston. But it would be decades before his biggest dream was fulfilled. In 1994, Mr. Vaughan returned to Antarctica, and became the first person to climb Mount Vaughan. Michael Enright talked to him as he celebrated his success. Here is part of that conversation, for the record.