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Liesl Messerschmidt is the daughter of anthropologist and Himalayan specialist Don Messerschmidt and musician Kareen Messerschmidt. Liesl spent most of her childhood and early career living in Kathmandu, Nepal, where she and her family enjoyed treasured relationships with many of Wangchuk Dorjee’s close relatives living in exile there. With several publications on topics related to Nepal and Tibet, her participation in assisting Wangchuk transcribe and put his story to paper was a natural extension of her personal interests and the lifelong friendship between the two families.

Wangchuk Dorjee was born to a semi-nomadic herding family on the high western Tibetan Plateau. He survived the siege of Lhasa as a teenager and fled into exile, following His Holiness the Dalai Lama where he worked as a medical assistant and social worker for the Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Foundation, serving Tibetan refugees in India. Wangchuk’s remarkable life story, told here, is one of gratitude and servitude, and reminds us of the importance of a friendly chuckle and optimistic demeanor, even in times of hardship.