A grateful Knievel ...

By Roberta Forsell Stauffer of The Montana Standard - 07/27/2006

Butte daredevil Evel Knievel reflects on events that have shaped his life and career during an interview conducted Tuesday inside his motorhome parked in Butte. Walter Hinick / The Montana Standard

He doesn’t make public appearances anymore, but for this fifth annual hometown celebration, Evel Knievel will make as many exceptions as his health will allow.

He’s excited about his “big surprise” entry in Friday’s parade, and he’ll also briefly introduce the major jump events — Kaptain Robbie Knievel’s on Friday at 8 p.m. and Ryan Capes’ on Saturday following Tyrone Gilks’ jump at 2 p.m.

Capes’ attempt to jump around 300 feet is going to be “a hell of a good show,” predicts the man who started it all.

“The farthest I’ve ever jumped in my life is a little over 200 feet,” Knievel said. “I’ll be holding my heart in my hands when he goes over Park Street. He’ll be going over 100 miles per hour.” Knievel couldn’t be happier with the scope and the scale of this year’s festivities that may prove bigger than any St. Patrick’s Day or Fourth of July celebration Butte’s ever seen. He also recalled that the original purpose behind the event is to help Butte economically and bring visitors to town.

“This is for the city. It’s not for me,” Knievel said. “I just come and help out.” He’s also feeling extremely grateful to all the local business owners and citizens who have stepped up to help sponsor the event and keep it free of charge.

“I’m satisfied and thrilled with the number of people that have given so much,” Knievel said, adding that what worries him most is forgetting someone in his long lists of thank-yous.

Gratitude was a frequent theme during this fifth annual check-in with Butte’s most famous son.

“Now that the time is near for me, Butte seems to mean so much more,” he said. “You don’t realize how beautiful life is until you’re close to losing it.” He couldn’t resist first grousing about how small jets “should be outlawed” and how Delta should be “ashamed of itself” serving Butte with such planes, but then he went on to say that when flying into Butte a few weeks ago, all the familiar landmarks — the Anaconda stack, the Big M, the Berkeley Pit, Our Lady of the Rockies — stood out like never before.

“I don’t think the town ever looked so good to me as it did this last time. What a town it is,” he said.

He won’t stay long after the festival, however, because the thin air strains his breathing too much. Between the pulmonary fibrosis and all the other ailments the 67-year-old is coping with, it’s a wonder he’s here at all.

Besides the constant struggle for breath, Knievel said he’s dealing with a bleeding esophagus, arthritis, staph infection, hepatitis C, type 2 diabetes “to the worst degree,” and neuropathy, which leaves his feet feeling like they’re on fire at times. Add to that a liver transplant, a stroke last fall, and back surgery two years ago, and you’ve got someone who relies on a strong constitution (plus powerful pain medication) to get through each day.

His sense of humor is fully alive, however, and he even threw in a little stunt, showing off his proficiency at turning to sit in his easy chair without getting the oxygen tubes tangled up. It’s harder than it looks, he joked.

Knievel has come to believe that “this living here (on earth) is a stepping stone for something in the future and beyond.

“That’s all life here is,” he said. “It’s just a test.” But if he had it to do over again, Knievel would likely take much better care of himself.

“The price I have paid for this notoriety and fame, it’s not worth it,” he said. “I would give anything for just one day of health, anything.” Some days, he says he wakes up feeling energized and looking forward to a full day, but by the time he walks the 50 feet from his bed to the front door of his motor home and back a few steps to the kitchen, “I feel like turning around and going right back to bed.” This weekend will be hard because he’d like to be in the middle of it all, checking the ramps with Robbie, visiting with fans and friends, but he knows he’ll only be able to handle small doses.

This man who took off in a rocket over the Snake River Canyon and sailed his way across jump after jump is no stranger to gambling with life, but Knievel says he realizes the odds this time are too stacked against him.

“At least then I had the chance,” he said of his daredevil days. “ I might have made the jump. Now, I don’t have any chance. I know no miracle will be made available to me in the next few years.” He’s far from sitting around waiting to die, however. Though his days of traveling the country for appearances at Harley Davidson and car dealerships are over, signing autographs is something he still does plenty of and earns a pretty penny doing it. For one recent project, he earned $5,000 signing 250 posters, and his partner Krystal Kennedy Knievel said that fee can rise sharply depending on what kind of items he’s signing and how exclusive they are.

Knievel also said he’s been guaranteed $150,000 a year from an overseas on-line gaming company for use of his photo and image on a new slot machine game, and Ideal Toys has released a new Daredevil Stunt Set, which is on display this weekend with other memorabilia at Gamer’s Cafe, 15 W. Park.

An autobiography is still in the works, too, with help from his son-in-law, Matt Vincent. Eight chapters are done, including one on growing up in Butte, and Knievel says he’ll also include a chapter on “how a man can love two women at the same time in exactly the same way.” He hopes to finish the book by year’s end.

In the meantime, he’s looking forward to a few more go-arounds of golf with his buddies at the Butte Country Club, and he’s enjoying the deluxe camping spot his friends Bee and Jim Blankenship have fixed up near their East Ridge home for him and Krystal and their Malteses, Rocket and Squirt.

They’re enjoying a paved spot with their own lawn, power, and sewer hook-ups, full-time private security, and a medical alarm button that puts them in immediate contact with help should Knievel need it.

“It just couldn’t be nicer,” he said.

Reporter Roberta Stauffer may be reached via e-mail at roberta.stauffer@mtstandard.com.