Memorial service held for Zack Martin

Zack Martin

A memorial service for Zachary "Zack" Tyler Martin ('03), 25, a News-Editorial senior, was held in December in Old Main Chapel. He died in a car accident on Thanksgiving Day, just days before he would have celebrated his 26th birthday.

Martin, a writer, photographer, accomplished mountaineer and Web site designer, was awarded a posthumous News-Editorial degree during May commencement ceremonies.

Martin's climbing résumé reads like an adventure novel. His playground was the world and included climbs in Spain, Peru, Mexico, Canada, Kazakhstan and just about every climbing area in the United States.

Wherever he went, Martin quickly made a lot of friends. "He was driven to climb mountains and take great pictures," said Rich Clarkson, former director of photography at National Geographic magazine. Clarkson met Martin at a photography seminar in Wyoming last fall. The week after his death, Clarkson visited campus to speak about Martin to the photojournalism club. "Good pictures tell stories. Zack knew how to tell a story."

Martin received climbing grants from many donors including the American Alpine Club. Last summer, he was awarded the Anatoli Boukreev Memorial Scholarship that sent him to Kazakhstan. There he climbed, took photos and completed a research project on Soviet athletes who were affected by the fall of the Soviet Union.

A memorial fund has been established in his honor. Donations are being accepted at: "The Zack Martin 'Breaking Barriers' Climbing Grant Fund," American Alpine Club, c/o Grant Donations, 710 10th St., Golden CO, 80401.

The person coordinating the effort is John Parsons, who can be contacted at john.p.parsons@att.net.