A MEMOIR · 1958—1983ISSUE 01 / AN EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY LIFE

A life that crossed continents

From the Shadows of K2 to the Shores of Tripoli.

THE MEMOIR OF MARIELLA DOOSE HARPER

In 1958, a young woman from Clovis, New Mexico, left for two years abroad. The decades that followed would take her family through Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East.

Follow the journey Meet the memoir

25 YEARS IN MOTIONFOUR REGIONS · ONE FAMILYSCROLL TO EXPLORE

Archival black-and-white photograph of K2, seen from below Windy Gap in 1938

K2 THE SHADOWS

Archival photograph showing a fountain, palms and a square in Tripoli in 1960

TRIPOLI THE SHORES

THE PUBLISHED MEMOIR Published book cover of From the Shadows of K2 to the Shores of Tripoli by Mariella Doose Harper

PALMETTO PUBLISHING · 2023

1958—1983YEARS OF JOURNEYS

04REGIONS EXPLORED

Bill · Hance · ScottFAMILY ALONG THE WAY

01 / THE YEARS

A departure became a lifetime of stories.

The story does not begin at a famous landmark. It begins with a young woman who wanted to see what lay beyond home.

Select a chapter of the journey

MARIELLA’S JOURNAL1958 / 1983

CHAPTERDESTINATION / STORYSTATUS

CHAPTER 011958

The world beyond Clovis

After graduating from Baylor University, Mariella set off on a two-year solo journey abroad. The dream encouraged by her parents in New Mexico was becoming real.

02 / THE BOOKENDS

K2. Tripoli.
A world between.

Two place names frame the memoir's title. The years behind that title stretch across four regions and the changes of an entire era.

K2 mountain in a historical 1938 expedition photograph — 01 / HIGH KARAKORAMIn the shadows *of K2*ARCHIVE: K2, 1938

Tripoli's Piazza Italia photographed in 1960 — 02 / NORTH AFRICAOn the shores *of Tripoli*ARCHIVE: TRIPOLI, 1960

Historical photographs of the places named in the title, not photographs from the Harper family collection. View image sources.

WHERE THE STORIES LEAD

EUROPE 01

NORTH AFRICA 02

MIDDLE EAST 03

FAR EAST 04

03 / BEHIND THE MEMOIR

Before the miles,
there was Mariella.

Mariella Doose Harper grew up in Clovis, New Mexico, in the 1940s and 1950s. Her parents encouraged her dream of seeing the world.

After graduating from Baylor University in 1958, she spent two years traveling on her own. Later, she married fellow traveler Bill Harper. Together with their sons, Hance and Scott, they made travel part of their family life.

Her memoir gathers those experiences into the story of an American family abroad between 1958 and 1983.

Read about her memoir

FROM CLOVIS TO CONTINENTS Published front cover of From the Shadows of K2 to the Shores of Tripoli

9798822921702

04 / THE BOOK

A MEMOIR BY MARIELLA DOOSE HARPER