Saturday, November 1, 2014

Tall Walk For Wallenda

From the Chicago Tribune: Nik Wallenda said his greatest inspiration is his great grandfather Karl, the famed patriarch of the Flying Wallendas family circus act who died performing in Puerto Rico in 1978.
Other family members also have died or been paralyzed while doing their performances.
"Yes, we've lost family members in the past. We've also learned from those accidents. How they lost their life, why they lost their life," Nik Wallenda said at a news conference Friday, two days before he is scheduled to take a high-wire walk in downtown Chicago.
On Sunday at 6 p.m., the 35-year-old from Sarasota, Fla., best known for walks across an Arizona gorge and Niagara Falls, will perform his act over the Chicago River.
Wallenda's family will be with him on the rooftop of Marina City's west tower before he goes up a tightrope at a 15-degree angle across the river to the Leo Burnett Building.
Marina City is 534 feet tall and the Burnett building, at 635 feet tall, is about eight stories higher. The walk — the equivalent of more than two city blocks — is expected to last 12 to 15 minutes.

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