Jan Morris (1926-2020), formerly known as James Morris, was a British journalist and travel writer. Sent to Palestine as an intelligence officer during the dissolution of the British Empire, she later joined The Times, where her break came covering the first conquest of Everest in 1953. On May 30th 1953, dizzy with altitude, she filed the legendary coded telegram—success transmitted as "SNOW CONDITIONS BAD STOP" (the death of a climber was to have been "SIGNALBOX").
She and her wife Elizabeth had five children. In July 1972, in a Casablanca clinic, she transitioned and published her account, "Conundrum", in 1974. She also wrote the "Pax" trilogy on the British Empire. A 2026 biography by travel writer Sara Wheeler portrays Morris as both intrepid witness to the 20th century and an unchanging narcissist. Morris told colleagues she wanted to be remembered as "Jan 'Empire' Morris" but predicted, accurately, that headlines would read "Sex Change Author Dies".
One of the universal rules of happiness is: always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.