Categories
Divine Stone

More 40 Years Later

40 Years Later
Philippe Petit holds the index card with details of his high wire walk to dedicate the tower cornerstone at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. His Sept. 29, 1982 walk lasted 5 minutes and 17 seconds, according to his notes. Other specifics include the rigging configuration and type of cable used and the objective: “bring the 1892 trowel for laying of the Jerusalem stone.” Petit has performed 96 walks, 16 of them at or in the Cathedral. Photo taken at his Shokan, N.Y. home on Sept 14, 2022. Photo – Robert F. Rodriguez

As the 40th anniversary of the dedication of the Southwest Tower approached, I knew catching up with Philippe Petit would be necessary. I met Philippe at his home in upstate New York wanting to capture his thoughts and memories of that day. For me it was an unforgettable day and thanks to Philippe, I got to relive it in his gracious video interview.

Philippe Petit and Robert F. Rodriguez pose for a photo outside Petit’s Shokan, N.Y. home on Sept. 14, 2022. The two met for a video oral history of Petit’s high wire walk at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine to dedicate the cornerstone and begin construction on the south tower. Behind them are the three practice wires that Philippe uses to stay in shape and be ready for the next walk. Photo – Robert F. Rodriguez

Another key to the backstory of that event was my friend Stephen Boyle. It turns out it was not the perfect day for the setting of the Jerusalem Stone. Steve tells me in this video about some of the challenges overcome that the audience wouldn’t see or ever know about.

“The Jerusalem Stone, the first cornerstone of the tower, is located in the second course. Most masons would acknowledge that getting the first course in correctly is one of the most important parts of a project…Since the scaffold was not complete on all four sides, it was not possible to set out the building line in advance of the ceremony…This meant we would have to take an educated guess at where the first stones should go and hope that it worked out (it didn’t but that’s another story).”

– Steve Boyle

My own day was one of mapping out the multiple scenes I wanted to cover. One man, lots of places to be at the same time. I’m thankful for multiple cameras.

■