John Goddard (July 29, 1924 – May 17, 2013) was an American

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, author, and lecturer.

Biography

In 1940, when Goddard was fifteen years old, he wrote down a list of one hundred and twenty-seven goals he wanted to accomplish in his lifespan, from learning to type on a keyboard to climbing

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

. "When I was fifteen," he told '' LIFE Magazine'', "all the adults I knew seemed to complain, 'Oh, if only I'd done this or that when I was younger.' They had let life slip by them. I was sure that if I planned for it, I could have a life of excitement and fun and knowledge". After serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

with the Army Air Forces, Goddard spent the next few years traveling, and managed to join the

Adventurers Club The Adventurers Club was a themed nightclub in Pleasure Island at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was styled after a private club for world travelers and explorers and was set in 1937. The walls of the club were covered with artifacts and pho ...

, an elite group who explored developing regions, of which he was at the time the youngest member. Goddard served as a missionary for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

in the Central States Mission, assigned to places such as Manitoba and Minnesota in about 1948-1950. He resumed his world traveling shortly after his mission, heading to Foggia in Italy. He began pursuing the goals on his list in earnest, and in 1951 became the first man to navigate the entire length of the Nile river in a kayak; this and subsequent adventures, such as exploring the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

in 1956 and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 1968, fueled a successful career on the

lecture circuit The "lecture circuit" is a euphemistic reference to a planned schedule of regular lectures and keynote speeches given by celebrities, often ex-politicians, for which they receive an appearance fee. In Western countries, the lecture circuit has bec ...

. He was also the first person to conduct an exploration of the entire Congo River. Starting in 1950, Goddard spent much time in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and surrounding areas. He originally had a negative view towards the native medicine in Uganda, but had a complex view, both praising and condemning various aspects of the society at large. After his kayaking trip down the whole length of the Nile, Goddard studied anthropology at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. Over time he came to have a much more positive view of

medicine men A medicine man is a traditional healer and spiritual leader among the indigenous people of the Americas. Medicine Man or The Medicine Man may also refer to: Films * ''The Medicine Man'' (1917 film), an American silent film directed by Clifford S ...

in Uganda and surrounding regions, by the 1980s declaring they had a sincere desire to help their people. Goddard wrote two books: ''The Survivor'' (), and ''Kayaks Down the Nile'' (), an account of his trip from source to the mouth of the White Nile in kayaks accompanied by two French friends in 1950, and featured in ''

Chicken Soup for the Soul Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is an American self-help, consumer goods and media company based in Cos Cob, Connecticut. It is known for the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. The first book, like most subsequent titles in the ...

''. His

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

expedition, which included his near-fatal plane wreck at the river's source, is featured in the

feature-length A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

film ''Devil's Highway The Fabulous Colorado River''. John Goddard died on May 17, 2013 in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

References

External links

* http://www.johngoddard.info/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Goddard, John 1924 births 2013 deaths American explorers Latter Day Saints from California American archaeologists American motivational speakers University of Southern California alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American Mormon missionaries in the United States