Julie Summers describes herself as a story teller. She has discovered a rich seam of tales about people who get themselves into, and for the most part out of, difficult situations. Sir Ernest Shackleton was caught in the icy deserts of Antarctica, Sir Philip Toosey in the steaming jungle of the Death Railway where he built the bridge on the River Kwai, Sandy Irvine died close to the summit of Mount Everest in one of the greatest mountaineering mysteries of all time. Currently she is working on an historical novel about a young man who was caught in the clutches of the Luftwaffe. 

In addition to writing, Julie is an exhibition organiser, broadcaster, interviewer and public speaker. Over the past two years she has organised ten exhibitions for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, one of the most extraordinary of the twentieth century’s organisations. She appeared on Radio 4’s “Start the Week” talking about her book “Remembered”, a history of the Commission’s work, and has made several appearances on “Woman’s Hour”, most recently in connection with “Stranger in the House”, her book published in 2008 about the effect on women of men returning from the Second World War. 

Well known within the mountaineering world, Julie is a judge at international film festivals. She appears every year at the Kendal Mountain Festival where she has interviewed a large number of climbers including Sir Chris Bonington and Stephen Venables. She is the Vice-Chairman of the Mountain Heritage Trust and represents the sport for Our Sporting Life, a major sports heritage event that will culminate in a London exhibition in 2012. She is appearing in a film “The Wildest Dream” about the last climb on Everest in 1924 of George Mallory and her great-uncle Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine.

Julie also lectures for events from schools and history groups to business.  She recently launched a successful talk for KPMG entitled “Related Worlds” about the situation faced by Philip Toosey building the bridge on the River Kwai.