The summer of 2021 (3rd weekend in June) will mark the 50-year anniversary of my in-person eyewitness of a death-defying act. The circus came to town each summer in St. Louis, Mo and I was treated to my fair share of cotton candy, clowns, and trained animals performing tricks (for me, these are listed in my order of importance). Every year except 1971. That summer of circus provides zero recall of these circus staples.

A senior citizen by any definition, Karl Wallenda walked across the top of Busch Stadium on a tightrope (aka high-wire) from baseball foul pole to baseball foul pole at the 1971 circus. There was no net to save him should he fall. Distance walked exceeded 200 yards and the time he flirted with death was greater than 10 minutes. While I’m pretty sure he was more relieved at the finish than me, the (relief) difference between he and I was, by my estimate, fairly negligible.

This death-defying walk had Wallenda upside-down (meaning on his head) at a juncture speaking to the large, by circus standards, crowd over the PA system. These crowds came night-after-night from the first day of the circus to last day of this circus stop. The risk-your-life spectacle was repeated.

The late Evel Kneival and son Robbie provide the same sort of drama. Others too. Society has always given attention to daredevils, whether in stunts or business or other endeavors. Kudos to those who can absorb that level of risk and not blink. Not me, which I suppose is all the more reason I admire them.