Knievel Makes the Leap Into the Great Unknown

Days after making up with rapper Kanye West, legendary daredevil Evel Knievel has landed himself in the news once again, not for making an improbable stunt landing, but for doing something one day all of us regular folks are going to do. He died today in his home state of Florida at the age of 69.

The AP is reporting:

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

Knievel, known for the outrageous motorcycle stunts he did in the 1970s as much as for his patriotic-themed jumpsuits, was born Robert Craig Knievel in Butte, Montana on October 17, 1938. According to his Wikipedia entry, the high school dropout first began a life of adrenaline-charged thrill-seeking through professional rodeos and ski jumping, and later formed the Butte Bombers, a semi-professional hockey team in his hometown. He first began to showcase his daredevil styled motorcycle skills in the mid 1960s, which eventually led to large scale stunts that drew thousands of people, including his famous 1974 Snake River Canyon jump. A lifetime of stunts brought him a lifetime of injuries, and a debt substantial enough to lead him to declare bankruptcy in the early 1980s. Multiple run-ins with the law kept him in the spotlight through the last decades of his life, as well as battles with his children, and his marriage to then-30 year old Krystal Kennedy in 1999. Aside from the lawsuit against West for copyright infringement, Knievel's most recent publicity stemmed from his April 2007 announcement that he had devoted his life to Jesus Christ. This fall, a rock opera about the daredevil's life debuted here in Los Angeles.

Photo from Crime Scene KC