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52 20TH ANNIVERSARY OCTOBER 24, 2013
RALPH CRANE PHOTO PUBLISHED 12/13/07
THE ORIGINAL AMERICAN IDOL We say goodbye to Evel Knievel BY MIKE CORRIGAN
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vel Knievel, this planet’s most celebrated motorcycle daredevil, who inspired a generation of boys to climb upon their own two-wheelers and damn near kill themselves, died last month at the age of 69. Knievel was laid to rest in Butte on Monday following a massive public send-off officiated by — of all people — the Rev. Robert Schuller, founder of the Crystal Cathedral megachurch of Orange County. If you didn’t quite get that last bit to square up in your brain, you’re not alone. Yet, apparently, it’s true. Just last April, Evel proclaimed himself born again. I confess that I was more disappointed by this news than I was (as a kid) about Knievel’s disastrous Snake River Canyon jump in 1974. Where, in his final days, was the man who the once laughed at fear, defied nature’s physical laws and taunted death? Where was the swaggering, boasting master risk-taker whose records for spans jumped and bones shattered are splashed across the pages of the Guinness Book of World Records? Missing in action. Or was he? I sought the advice of those possessing more insight: Those who had crossed the gossamer fan/celebrity barrier to actually meet, greet and even gather signatures from this All-American legend.
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ne group that reputedly followed Knievel’s career with the keenest of interest — as fellow daredevils and as enthusiasts of large, heavy, American-made motorcycles — were the Hell’s Angels. A conversation immediately after Knievel’s demise with a noted West Coast Hell’s Angels (whose identity I’m not at liberty to divulge) revealed a deep appreciation among club members for the raw guts and steely nerve it took to perform trick motorcycle riding — especially highflying jumps — in the early 1960s when Knievel got his start as lead performer of “Evil Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils.” This was long before stunt riders (like his son, Robbie, who today is following in his famous father’s tire tracks) could afford to pay teams of engineers to work out every last detail of ramp design, payload, bike alteration, wind speed and aerodynamics. “He didn’t know anything about 16 aerodynamics,” the Angel laughs. “Evel would dream up those jumps on his May 10, 2007 own. He’d just throw a ramp together, jump on his bike and do it. In the early days, he didn’t even use a landing ramp.” Knievel never strapped himself in, either. Nor did he use stunt bikes — stripped-down and lightened up with replacement parts for efficiency. Most of the bikes he used for
OUR FAVORITE COVER
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The Inlander ushered in the start of 2007 with a bang: Every issue henceforth would be in FULL COLOR. We celebrated this with a cover photo of former staffer Luke Baumgarten doing bicycle crunches in neon ’80s workout gear for his big New Year’s Resolution series on “Getting Physical” (1/11). In the year’s first months, news headlines announced victory for the SPOKANE TRIBE OF INDIANS in a long-fought battle with the state to obtain a gaming compact, with eventual plans to open a casino complex near Airway Heights (1/18). Then the CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF SPOKANE agreed to settle its clergy sex abuse scandal to the tune of $48 million (1/25). The U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS took over the city in late January; just in time for the event, the new DAVENPORT HOTEL TOWER opened (1/25). We called out handful of local developers on their seemingly false promises for several new DOWNTOWN CONDO projects (2/22), the talk of the town a year before. Part of that “condo craze” meant the eviction of hundreds of low-income tenants at the NEW MADISON APARTMENTS and the OTIS HOTEL on West First (7/19). In local politics, the mayoral race between incumbent DENNIS HESSION and city councilwoman MARY VERNER was a hot one (10/18) — Hession’s campaign outspent Verner’s by a wide margin, and voters were almost evenly split between candidates, yet the underdog Verner prevailed. In late spring, we also wrote about the results of a big multi-year study on the SPOKANE-RATHDRUM PRAIRIE AQUIFER (5/10). Findings eased fears the resource was shrinking, yet sparked debate that not enough was being done to conserve it. Remember when a gallon of gas was under $3? A May cover story said we probably wouldn’t see that again, addressing the national fear of GAS PRICE GOUGING by oil companies (5/17). Looking back, it was surely a sign of things to come when DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS for gay couples became legal in Washington after Gov. Christine Gregoire signed the legislation into law in April (4/26). It was a good year — the best year, really — for the WSU MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM under new, firsttime head coach TONY BENNETT. The team made it to the NCAA TOURNAMENT for the first time in 13 years, and at one point was also ranked 13th in the national polls (3/15). In 2007, the local arts scene had several reasons to celebrate. After a decade-long hiatus, the MAGIC LANTERN THEATRE reopened in the newly renovated, uber-green SARANAC HOTEL BUILDING (8/16). Just in time for the holiday season, a huge project to renovate and completely restore the Art Deco masterpiece that is the FOX THEATER was completed (11/15). — CHEY SCOTT
COMMENTARY Are Spokane’s parks being neglected? 6
SPORTS The Spokane Shock embraces Arena chaos 37
FOOD Nosworthy’s serves up breakfast, North Idaho style 44