[at-l] Earl's lost brother?

[tmcginnis@ucclan.state.in.us (Thomas McGinnis)]

     From Monday's AP:
     Overcoming aching joints and chilly weather, Gerry Bloch became the 
     oldest climber to scale Yosemite National Park's famed El Capitan 
     rockface -- for the second time.
     "The biggest challenge was to do what others have called the 
     impossible -- at least for my age -- but I knew I could do it," said 
     Bloch, 81. "This is by far the most difficult, the most satisfying, 
     and the most gratifying climb I have ever made."
     ...
     Bloch, a retired chemical engineer from Cherry Hill, NJ, set out on 
     his quest May 12 with two other men. The climb was supposed to take a 
     week, but the group was slowed by cold weather and the weight of the 
     food and water they carried.
     ...
     "If I really knew what I was getting into, I wouldn't have done it," 
     Bloch said, jokingly. "There were days when we thought we wouldn't 
     make it, but we just kept striving,. This is an obstacle course."
     ...
     Bloch quit skydiving at age 78 after doctors refused to treat him 
     unless he promised he would stop, said his grandson Sam Bloch, 20, who 
     shook his hand at the summit.
     Now the elder Bloch plans to relax.
     "I'm retiring," he said. "This was a fabulous experience and this was 
     an ultimate experience."
     
     The picture in the paper had that certain steely grin that Earl 
     sports, you know?
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