Yes! An early lead. I heard Sir Hillary's last words were, "Screw Geoff. Long live the World War I veterans!"

Edmund Hillary was a choice I debated, and I almost tipped my hand last month when DC asked whether Hillary (Clinton) was the common choice among the participants. Actually, I recall hearing that Mrs. Clinton was named after Sir Edmund.

He was actually one of my favorites on my list (why couldn't it have been Betty White?). What I didn't realize when I entered this contest is that I'll now always remember Sir Edmund Hillary as the man who put me into the death pool lead.

That's one down. It makes up for my disappointment in forgetting to put Ernest Borgnine in my list after he was the first one I thought of.

Oh, well. It's a good start, but this contest is a marathon, not a sprint, and there's a long way to go. I'm predicting Maharishi Yogi by Groundhog's Day and Ariel Sharon by the Ides of March. I'm starting to like this game a bit too much.