Steve Fossett's Last Adventure
The March issue of Chicago magazine features a brilliant profile by Bryan Smith of pilot Steve Fossett. Smith's "Without a Trace" explores the mystery of how a man who escaped death so many times could disappear during a routine flight on a beautiful September day. Smith uses lively verbs and sprinkles wonderful details throughout his stories, as he does in this passage where he describes some of Fossett's prior adventures:
He also nearly killed himself — again and again. While climbing Mount Olympus, he slipped near the summit, rocketing toward a cliff, desperately digging an ice ax into a smooth, snow-covered slab to stop the slide. When he did at last find purchase, the lower half of his body dangled over the side of the cliff like a comic book hero at the end of a white-knuckle thriller. Swimming the English Channel, he stayed in the water so long — 22 hours, 15 minutes — that he suffered hypothermia, a cracked rib, and so much saltwater in his lungs that the pH of his blood was more fish than human. On one of his balloon trips, a lack of fuel caused him to ditch in India, where he banged into a forest of 50-foot trees, then bounced into a small village. He emerged from his capsule to find himself worshiped as Hanuman, the Monkey God.
Be sure to check out the ending of this great story. www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/March-2008/Without-a-Trace/