Julie Jag’s piece in the Feb. 17 Tribune was a good report on Kasha Rigby’s life during her golden years of extreme skiing.
However, it contained no mention of the wonderful humanitarian she later became when I knew her best. She worked for the World Food Programme (WFP) for four years in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. taking care of and feeding Rohingya refugees, who had been driven out of neighboring Myanmar.
Her efforts and those of her colleagues resulted in the WFP being granted the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.
I was in frequent contact with Kasha during these years and she indicated to me that it was the most challenging period of her life. Her initial WFP contract was for three years but she extended for a fourth because she knew she was needed.
It was also during this time that she met her fiancé, fellow humanitarian Magnus Wolfe Murray. Magnus was the first to reach her during the fateful avalanche in Kosovo that took her life. Magnus was apparently taking a break from humanitarian work in Turkey on the Syrian crisis while she was waiting on a visa to join him.
Kasha was one of the most fascinating people I have known and I hope someone writes a book about her adventurous life. It would also make a good movie.
Paul S. Carpenter, Salt Lake City