Meet Philippe Petit, a 24-year-old street performer. In those 24 years, he had walked across tightropes in Paris and Australia, and had also practiced and performed juggling, fencing and bullfighting. Though he did all of those things, none would be as fun or solidify his place in history more than the day in 1974 that he walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
On August 7, 1974, Petit fastened a tightrope between the then-unfinished towers and began his journey. From 110 stories up, Petit taunted the bustling city below, walking and dancing on the 200-foot long wire. Mordicai Gerstein retells the events of that day in his Caldecott Medal-winning book, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. The book is good, but I am partial to the version on BookFlix (under People and Places), which narrates the story and animates the pages.
Petit was also the focus of the 2008 Academy Award-winning documentary entitled Man on Wire. Many theatres across the country are having special screenings of this documentary to pay homage to the towers that once stood.
Ten years ago, our world was forever changed by the attack on the World Trade Center. As we remember the lives lost during and after the disaster, and those lost fighting overseas, I thought it would be a nice homage to mention Philippe Petit and his amazing (and highly illegal) feat.
Although, if you were to ask Philippe Petit today, he would say, "I don't see time begin and end. In my head, the twin towers are still alive."
Surely they are still alive in our minds as well.
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