Evel Knievel Dies at 69

[monmouth]

Evel Knievel Dies at 69
Published: 11/30/07, 4:26 PM EDT
By MITCH STACY
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) - Evel Knievel, the hard-living motorcycle daredevil whose exploits made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

Knievel had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

[niyad]

1. RIP, bobby. you always brought a smile to my heart.

I remember a line in a movie about him-- the doctor is looking at him after a jump that wasn't quite successful--he has broken nearly everything, except his neck. the dr. is saying "he didn't break his neck!! WHY didn't he break his neck??"

[Hepburn]

2. I was just coming over to GD to post this news.

It surprised me that he was nearly 70 years old.

RIP, Mr. Knievel.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. RIP Evel - damn...

Loved EK in my childhood. I had ALL of the toys. This is a bummer for me...:cry:

[Hepburn]

5. It seems like all of the people I recall...

...from my youth are passing on. I loved him, too....and am sad that he is gone.

[Cooley Hurd]

6. He was larger than life, and, if you grew up in the early 70's...

...his image was inescapable.

[FatDave]

21. My first childhood hero.

It is sad to see him go.

(and man, if those crank-up motorcycles weren't the awesomest toys ever)

[karlrschneider]

4. Yikes...I thought he died 20 years ago.

:eyes:

[shadowknows69]

7. Good journey Daredevil

From a huge childhood fan.

[Auggie]

8. Definitely defined an era.

[Berry Cool]

9. One of the great ironies of life.

Evel Knievel...does dangerous stunts by the truckload, and dies in bed.

[Gabi Hayes]

10. one of the greatest

assholes that ever lived

[Ferretherder]

11. Was that absolutely necessary?

sheesh.

[Gabi Hayes]

12. yeah. do you know anything about him?

that he was a psychotic, brutal, violent, vile, lying monster?

that he BRAGGED openly about beating the shit out of people with his famous cane?

why should the death of a creep like him engender any sort of sympathy from anyone? I doubt that there's anyone around who knows him well who feels any different than I do

his son HATES him

REALLY hates him

do a little digging; it won't take much

you gonna tell me the same thing when I say good riddance to Kissinger?

to anybody from the Bush family?

should I have written an encomium to Hitler, had I been around when he offed himself 62 years ago?

sheesh

[stevedeshazer]

13. Godwin's Law

You lose.

Sure, he was an asshole.

Comparing him to Hitler, Kissinger, and the Bush Crime Family is just plain embarrassing.

Sheesh yourself, for cryin' out loud. He was just another abusive, attention-seeking drunken jerk, just like half the people on DU these days.

[Gabi Hayes]

15. so, why should I have to sit here and listen to people praise a jerk like that?

you make no sense.....if he was the sort of person you describe yourself, shouldn't the reality of his existence be pointed out?

are you saying that it's untoward to speak ill of the dead under any circumstance?

why?

Oh, yeah; I forgot to mention....con man extra-ordinaire

[stevedeshazer]

20. No, I have no problem speaking ill of the dead

I just did!

That's not the point.

My point is, comparing Evel Knievel to Adolf Hitler and Henry Kissinger and all the members of the Bush Crime Family is absurd.

That's simply not a valid comparison.

That's all I meant.

Hate on EK all you want, just don't compare him to someone who exterminated millions of people. It just makes you look bad.

I'm trying to help you! :)

[Cooley Hurd]

22. The hide-thread function is your friend, Gabi...

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ferretherder]

16. Was THAT absolutely necessary?

YIKES!

[HughBeaumont]

19. Bathtub Shitter!

Methinks someone made ye pay for an illegal link.

I did that once and got two men in coitus.

[dysfunctional press]

17. maybe he should have just stayed with the missionary position...?

:shrug:

[LittleClarkie]

18. I remember having an Evel Knievel doll complete with bike when I was a kid

I know he's been pretty miserable for a while, health-wise. It's good in a way that that's over. RIP Evel.

[PDittie]

23. No hero, but certainly an icon

There are thousands of us, men in our forties and fifties, mourning the original X-Gamer. Men who as boys spent many an afternoon building a ramp out of old plywood and jumping over a few boxes or clutter from the garage, some of us still holding somewhere in our personal archives an old metal lunchbox with him in that Captain America jumpsuit.

I think I kept watching him jump -- particularly after that slow-motion rag-doll tumble he took in Vegas -- to see if this time he might kill himself. I vividly recall the hype leading up to that Snake River rocket ride, and when it fizzled out I thought to myself, this guy is nothing but a huckster. Before that I had considered him only an idiot.

He jumped 13 cars in the Astrodome in 1971, setting an attendance record for the time. Here's a video of it. I can still feel the anticipation: the wheelies past the line of cars, the way he would ride to the top of the ramp and rev the bike's engine before backing it slowly down and then making the jump.

He was quite obviously the inspiration for the satirical Super Dave Osborne in the '80's and '90's. By that time Knievel had retired and withdrawn from public life, although he had recently sued, and then settled with -- two days before his death -- rapper Kanye West over his image in a video.

Even watching his son Robby duplicate his jumps in recent years was nostalgic. There was really no one like Evel Knievel. He wasn't one of my generation's heroes, but he certainly was one of its icons. And for the first time in many decades he's not feeling any pain, so that's got to be a comfort.

http://brainsandeggs.blogspot.com/2007/12/viva-evel.html

[H2O Man]

24. I never was

interested in him, but my neighbor was fascinated by him. When you mentioned the plywood ramps, I had to laugh, because on what was the neighborhood "go-cart" track, my friend constructed many a ramp, spending untold hours trying to get the perfect one.

As a young adult, my friend continued his thrill-seeking with outrageous tactics on the highway. I got to the point where walking rather than riding with him seemed the safest bet. Last summer, he moved into the same rural neighborhood I live in now, and we laugh when we think about the crazy times of old. I still will not get in a vehicle he is driving, though.

My younger son sometimes helps my friend on some of the construction projects he does for income. Old injuries from auto accidents keep my friend from being able to carry heavy materials up a ladder, so an athletic 20-year old comes in handy. Last night when the news had a report on E.K.'s death, my son said, "He will now attempt to jump seven graves with his casket." I think my friend will find that a fitting tribute.