I remember the dragster toy had a wierd and annoying quirk - you spun it up and it would grind slowly, like the brakes were stuck or something.
Yeah, and, uh, it’s a tragedy.
One he had a conversation with his friend, Muhammed Ali, who said"
“You know, you are the white Muhammed Ali.”
“No,” replied Evel, “you are the Black Evel Kinevel!”
Everyone in my 5th grade class admired him. The teacher even let us play a record about him–it had someone singing the lines "He knows someday he’ll have to face that canyon in the sky.:
Oh, and kids still make ramps and jump them on their bikes and skateboards. Nowadays, though, their parents try to get them to wear helmets.
This past April, he was at Crystal Cathedral, testifying to his new faith in Christ, getting baptized by the Schullers, which resulted in the first altar call I’ve ever seen for the church. I knew from the looks of him then that he was one step ahead of the Reaper. I always liked him but my brother was the big fan- I’ll have to talk with him today.
God bless ya, Robert!
How the hell did he manage to die old? 
Saw the video of him with Schuller, myself. I thought to myself, “It looks like he keeps gulping for air.” Then I read that he had been suffering from lung disease. I thought, too, “He doesn’t look too good.”
I actually drove from Atlanta to Twin Falls, Idaho in the summer of '74 to see Evel jump the Snake River Canyon. What a party! There were thousands and thousands of people there, camping out the night before. The next day, my view of the event wasn’t the best - all I saw was the “Sky Cycle” going up the launch ramp, and the parachute deploying before the cycle even left the ramp. But EVERYONE could see him being hoisted by crane into the Sky Cycle - and the cheering was lound and continuous. I had to see the footage of the cycle falling into the canyon on television later that night.
So it was all rather anticlimactic, but I’m still glad I went.
Thanks, Evel, for providing an excuse for one of the best parties I’ve ever been to in my life!
RIP.
Although I am aware of his legend, I must admit that due to my age, I am only familiar through Evil Knievel mostly through parody daredevils obviously inspired by Evil’s antics, which range the gamut from Robert Einstein’s “Super Dave Osbourne” to the childish Dick Daring of the current Disney cartoon series The Replacements. One of these memorable daredevil parodies, The Simpsons’s Captain Lance Murdoch, gave an immortal piece of advice as to why there’s not real threat in what a daredevil does that I’m sure Evil would have loved if he was aware of it: “Bones heal, chicks dig scars, and the United States of America has the highest doctor-to-daredevil ratio in the world.” Whereever you are, Evil, I hope you’re happy and still jumping over things.
Damn, don’t fuck with Kanye.
Heaven has gained one cool jumpsuited, cane carrying, be-caped, mutton-chopped cat.
RIP