Thursday, May 14, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #83 / The Cycle Jumpers




I bought this book when I was around 10 years old (1983) at Haslams' books in St. Petersburg, Florida (it claims to be Florida's biggest bookstore). Published in 1973, this book chronicles the achievements of Evel Knievel and his up and coming rival the fifteen year-old Gary Wells. Clearly Wells never became a fixture in the culture like Knievel did. When I was a kid we Evel Knievel was a kind of mythical figure, he wasn't active at the time so we didn't see him on TV, information about him was transmitted via word of mouth and through the garage sale toys of the previous generation of kids. Both Wells and Knievel spectacularly injured themselves in attempting to jump the fountains at Ceasar's Palace. This video tells the tale:

No comments: