quote:Legendary US daredevil Evel Knievel has died at the age of 69, his granddaughter has said.
Knievel had suffered ill-health, including diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis - an incurable lung condition - for several years.
He underwent a liver transplant, after nearly dying of hepatitis C, in 1999.
Knievel gained cult status performing death-defying stunts in the 1960s and 70s, including an attempted motorcycle jump over Snake River Canyon in Idaho.
He regularly drew huge crowds when he attempted to jump over rows of parked vehicles with his motorbike.
"They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel once said.
In one famous incident in 1968, he attempted to jump over the fountains at the Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas.
The resulting crash put him in a coma for 29 days, but brought him a large amount of publicity.
His 1974 attempt to cross the Snake River Canyon in Idaho on a rocket-powered bike also failed, when a parachute opened prematurely and he fell into the river.
By the time he retired in 1980 Knievel had broken nearly 40 bones.
I'm just glad he got to die in bed.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I was shocked when I read this in the news this morning, mainly because I could've sworn I remembered him dying years ago.
There was something charming and intensely human in his refusal to quit trying ridiculously dangerous feats even after several failed attempts.
Posts: 3936 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Considering that he's broken every bone in his body several times, I actually find it ironic that he did.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I went to college in Butte, which is where Evel's from and where he retired to.
I worked security for Evel Knievel Days (a festival in the summer) for 2 years in a row when I was up there.
It's sad that he died, but the guy was a world-class a-hole who treated everyone around him like dirt.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Hey JT, didn't you have a little conniption when I felt the need to point out some of Kirby Puckett's flaws when he died and you posted about what a great guy he was? Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I just remember someone who babysat me had the little Evel Kneivel motorcycle toy. I'm not surprised that he might not have been a warm fuzzies kind of guy, but he was an icon of my childhood. When I was about my daughter's age, we'd mod our bikes and run them over jumps. I remember one time I took this driveway ledge next to a slope into the next yard and my tire came off. Time seemed to freeze as I watched it hover away and the grass approaching the naked fork of my purple stingray. Totally awesome.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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