‘Three Cups’ Author Admits Rearranging Events in Books

Author and philanthropist Greg Mortenson, in his first interview since he and his education charity were engulfed in scandal in 2011, told the “Today” show that the events depicted in his best-selling memoir Three Cups of Tea occurred but that he altered their sequence and timing.

In a conversation with NBC’s Tom Brokaw that aired Tuesday, Mr. Mortenson said he felt “alarms” about rearranging events in the 2006 book but ignored them because “I was willing to basically kill myself to raise money and help the projects” of his Central Asia Institute, which built schools in impoverished villages in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

An April 2011, “60 Minutes” report cast doubt on Mr. Mortenson’s account of a failed mountain-climbing expedition he said inspired his charity work and raised questions about the institute’s spending, setting off an investigation in his home state of Montana. He agreed to repay $1-million to the organization in 2012 to settle allegations that he used its funds for personal and promotional activities.