By SnifflesEdith Wharton wrote great novels about Old New York. We cats think that Jean Philippe Petit wrote a very important chapter of New New York.
Somehow, it just seems so quaint — that a high-wire artist could fake his way into the newly built World Trade Center, string a cable between the two towers, and perform a balancing act that would mesmerize the world.
Are we not correct? That this kind of stunt would be impossible today, in our age of tight security, heightened paranoia and intolerance of art?
Petit's accomplishment makes us ponder things we'd rather not think about. Here he is, balancing 1,350 feet above the ground in 1974. Compare that to the brave souls who jumped from the towers on September 11, 2001. What freedom did the artist — and the victims — feel? We'll never know — but the fact that we can imagine, that we can speculate, makes us human.
Plus, we feel really nostalgic for a time when a guy could pull off a stunt like this. Monsieur Petit, formidable!
We PURR in your direction, and wish the new documentary about you well.
(Photo: Jean-Louis Blondeau, Polaris, The Washington Post)
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