Basejumper.com - archive

Jean is going to be very annoyed when she finds out she is dead . . .

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030608/1032257.asp

Nick
BASE 194

Wow, I hope I'm not dead too but nobody has the heart to tell me... eeeeesh

http://www.buffalonews.com/...20030608/1032257.asp

Clicky

Hmmm... they had obviously seen your list, so you would think they could have taken two minutes to look over it for Jean's name... Gotta love the media! (Well at least they didn't kill you too ;-)

I used their "feedback" button. Here's the response I got:

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" -Mark Twain (and now Jean Boenish)

OK. What self-respecting BASE jumper would *not* know the status of Jean Boenish, one of the co-pioneers of our sport?

Sheesh!

I guess it depends on your definition of BASE jumper. I know lots of people who have made some BASE jumps (in some cases as many as 100) who would have no idea who Jean is, or who Carl was.

I think it's kind of sad to lose touch with where (and who) this all came from, but that's more and more the case.

Maybe we can get Nick to publish a book on the history of the sport...

This Mark Sommer guy is a real gem. After I complained about "Jean's death" and that his article was quite negative, he blasted me back with a rude email.

He also reported that 11 jumpers have emailed him saying his article was "well written and fair". Perhaps Mr. Sommer is on drugs?

Yeah, I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones in that my mentor, 460, has been around the sport for quite a long time and is a student of it's history. Naturally he passed that along to me as well.

What's such a damn shame is that many of these people are still around and so few people even realize it. As 460 says "BASE is one of the few sports where you can still meet your heroes."

This sport has a very colorful history with equally colorful people. And the people who brought us here... the Boenishes, the Harrisons, Smitty... the list goes on & on... deserve recognition & respect for their accomplishments.

Well only if we can get him drunk and stoned enough to remember everything correctly!

But seriously, that would be a great book... Nick does have a way with words.

Try to define a BASEjumper... i guess theres as many as there are different jumpers.

I had never heard the name Jean Boenish before this tread but i had heard about Carl.... does that make me a more bad jumper?

But yes i think it will be a good time to start writing a book about the early and newér pioners.I would buy that book but i woudnt look at the net to find out who is who.

Jason, please be careful of making personal attacks, even on members of the press.

I know that Mark Sommer read this thread (because he emailed me about it), and I'd like to avoid it devolving into name calling.

It really sounded to me like he just got some bad information, probably due to the typical press problem of not knowing who the BASE jumpers are, and who's just willing to talk. I understand the paper is running a correction to the article.

Thanks!