Man on Wire, redux

Man on Wire is one of those movies that has stuck with me long after watching (see my previous post). The movie and its principal character, Philippe Petit, crop up everywhere. I heard Petit a few weeks ago as a guest on a segment of NPR's quiz show, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" This morning I heard him in an interview (I even recognized his voice) about his wire-walking. He calls his wire-walking "writing in the sky" and compares it to poetry.

His last big stunt was between two building in NYC for the David Letterman show in 2002. Asked whether he (at the age of 60 now) had retired, he said he'd stop walking in the air when he was no longer able to walk on the ground. 2009 minus 2002... Hmm.

Apparently I'm not the only one who finds herself fascinated by this brash, arrogant, irrepressible man. His film was awarded Best Documentary by the Academy a few weeks ago.