REAL PEOPLE/Up in the Air
High Life
Tightrope artist Philippe Petit looks back on a momentous walk—and ahead to his next bold exploit
Petit at home
AFTER I WALKED between the towers of the World Trade Center 50 years ago, people said, “There’s no next project. How can you top being a quarter-mile high in the sky?” But it’s not true! I prepared for one year to do that walk, and when it was done—I mean, after the police who arrested me for trespassing let me go—I went on to the next walk and the next: the Louisiana Superdome, the Eiffel Tower, a section of Niagara Falls and many others. I am not limited by what I have done. I’m motivated by what I have done.
Yes, I have constraints. My body is not 18. But I don’t care about age; I don’t feel it. In my mind, I’m getting younger every year. I used to be a rebel and ambitious, trying to prove something. Well, I’m still a rebel and ambitious, but I have nothing to prove. I just want to do my art.
Petit between walks at the World Trade Center, 1974
I am not collecting the longest, the highest, the most famous. I don’t care about that. I am collecting what inspires me and what I think would inspire other people. There are so many marvels around us.
Nobody notices balance. People walk, and they don’t even think about how amazing it is that they can stay in balance. I always say: Start your day in equilibrium. Don’t slump over your breakfast; sit up straight. That way, you start the day in equilibrium. It’ll make you feel better all day. I think balance keeps you energized in body and mind. That’s my way of life. —As told to Tim Appelo
Performer Philippe Petit, 74, lives near Woodstock, New York. He planned to mark the 50th anniversary of his August 7, 1974, twin towers walk with a gala show inside the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.
To watch a video of Petit practicing at home visit aarp.org/PhilippePetit.