Evel Knievel is dead.
He died at age 69 of some pretty everyday shit and I am currently refusing to accept it.
I am not pleased at the idea of having to accept not only the death, but the mundane death, of someone who was such an iconic figure in my life. Evel Knievel was always, for me, the definition of larger then life. While not quite old enough to have caught the peak of his fame as he helped rocket 'Wide World of Sports' to the top of the ratings with his mind numbingly intense stunts I am old enough to have a memory of Evel Knievel before the legend outgrew the man. I remember what it was like to watch a daredevil preform when the odds where closer to 50/50 for success then they where to 100%. While never one to argue with people not killing themselves gone forever are the days of shows like Evel Knievel's. Never again will we as a nation see a private citizen put their life on the line to the degree, on a regular basis, he did simply for the sake of entertainment.
It takes a special kind of man to not only do what Evel Knievel did but fail at it so spectacularly and then get up and do it again. It speaks of a certain kind of drive and determination that can not be accounted for by greed for either money or fame; the sort of madness that makes people continue to do what he did crash after crash comes from a place far deeper in a man.
He may seem a funny place to draw inspiration but Evel Knievel, and the awe he inspired in me, was a large force in shaping me into the person that I am today. I am sad to hear of his passing and while I will not begrudge him a peaceful death somehow I think I would be a happier accepting his passing if he had gown out in a blaze of glory wearing a white, red and blue jump suit.
R.I.P
He died at age 69 of some pretty everyday shit and I am currently refusing to accept it.
I am not pleased at the idea of having to accept not only the death, but the mundane death, of someone who was such an iconic figure in my life. Evel Knievel was always, for me, the definition of larger then life. While not quite old enough to have caught the peak of his fame as he helped rocket 'Wide World of Sports' to the top of the ratings with his mind numbingly intense stunts I am old enough to have a memory of Evel Knievel before the legend outgrew the man. I remember what it was like to watch a daredevil preform when the odds where closer to 50/50 for success then they where to 100%. While never one to argue with people not killing themselves gone forever are the days of shows like Evel Knievel's. Never again will we as a nation see a private citizen put their life on the line to the degree, on a regular basis, he did simply for the sake of entertainment.
It takes a special kind of man to not only do what Evel Knievel did but fail at it so spectacularly and then get up and do it again. It speaks of a certain kind of drive and determination that can not be accounted for by greed for either money or fame; the sort of madness that makes people continue to do what he did crash after crash comes from a place far deeper in a man.
He may seem a funny place to draw inspiration but Evel Knievel, and the awe he inspired in me, was a large force in shaping me into the person that I am today. I am sad to hear of his passing and while I will not begrudge him a peaceful death somehow I think I would be a happier accepting his passing if he had gown out in a blaze of glory wearing a white, red and blue jump suit.
R.I.P
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RIP Evil.