Philippe Petit is another of those people I admire and consider spiritual guides (recall earlier bookofjoe icons Andy Warhol and Elaine Scarry). The greatest aerialist on the planet, he walked between the World Trade Center Towers on the morning of August 7, 1974, on a 7/8" steel cable composed of six strands of 19 wires each. His story of the event, which I tracked down with GREAT difficulty before 9-11, finally reading a copy obtained via an interlibrary loan from some other state, was riveting. Now, since 9-11, it's back in print.

He writes today in the Wall St. Journal of his thoughts on the two year anniversary of 9-11. Superb.