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| Philippe Petit during his 1974 Twin Towers walk |
Philippe Petit is a French high-wire
artist who gained fame for his high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the
World Trade Center in New York City, on 7 August 1974. Petit, who was born in
France, discovered magic and juggling at an early age, and at 16, he took his
first steps on the wire.
"Within one year," he told a reporter, "I
taught myself to do all the things you could do on a wire. I learned the
backward somersault, the front somersault, the unicycle, the bicycle, the chair
on the wire, jumping through hoops. But I thought, 'What is the big deal here?
It looks almost ugly.' So I started to discard those tricks and to reinvent my
art."
World Trade Center walk
On August 7, 1974,
Petit stepped onto a wire strung between the Twin Towers. Balancing 110 stories
in the air, Petit played on the tightrope for 40 minutes to the wonder and
amazement of the people watching on the ground. Petit was arrested as he left
the wire, but as the police cuffed him, he had a huge grin across his face—for
he had achieved a feat everyone, including himself at times, had thought
impossible.
“The impossible — we
are told — cannot be achieved,” Petit tells the TED blog in a Q&A about his
new eBook. “To overcome the ‘impossible’ we need to use our wits and be
fearless.”
The story of Petit’s walk was brilliantly told in the
documentary film, Man On Wire
, by UK
director James Marsh. Petit has told the story in his own words, in his book To
Reach The Clouds, also republished as Man on Wire
.
, by UK
director James Marsh. Petit has told the story in his own words, in his book To
Reach The Clouds, also republished as Man on Wire.
In this TED talk, Philippe Petit recalls the walk, talks about finding your passion, and makes
the case for confronting your fears and attempting the ‘impossible’.
Today, Petit shares his time between New York City where he
is an artist in residence at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, and a home
in the Catskills.
If you are unfamiliar
with Philippe Petit and his walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade
Center, this YouTube video includes a number of images of Philippe taken during
the event.
More Information
Philippe Petit on Wikipedia...
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Petit]
Buy the Man On Wire DVD at Amazon.Com... Man
On Wire [DVD]
Buy the Man on Wire book at Amazon.Com...
Man
on Wire
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