Jill Kinmont Boothe has Died, Sierra Wave Feb. 9th 2012..

Jill Kinmont Boothe has died

By News Staff on February 9, 2012in Gov

Jill Kinmont Boothe - February 16, 1936- February 9, 2012

A woman who inspired the Eastern Sierra and all who knew her died Thursday afternoon at a Carson City Hospital. Jill Kinmont Boothe would have been 75 next Thursday. Reports said Jill died from complications related to surgery. She left behind her husband John, other relatives, and a host of admirers who loved her.

Boothe was paralyzed after a skiing accident and then went on to become an accomplished educator and painter. A school in Bishop is named after her.

Boothe and her life story were so inspiring and interesting that two movies were made, “The Other Side of the Mountain” and “The Other Side of the Mountain Part II”.

Boothe grew up in Bishop and was a top ski racer when she suffered a near-fatal accident in a downhill race in 1955 and was paralyzed from the neck down. Some might note the “Sports Illustrated Curse” as Boothe was on the cover that week in late January. She was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1967.

Boothe, however, would not let her disability slow her down. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in German and earned a teaching credential at the University of Washington. She taught in Washington and Beverly Hills before returning to Bishop in 1975 and teaching special edcuation at Bishop Elementary School. Jill married John Boothe in November 1976, and the couple made their home in Bishop.

Jill was one of those remarkable people who took what seemed like a tragic fate and transformed it into a beautiful life that inspired anyone who even knew her briefly. Funeral services are pending for Jill Kinmont Boothe.