Bay Area's balloon boy scaled heights of fame (The Real Balloon Boy from 1964) - pic

[Kadie]

Bay Area's balloon boy scaled heights of fame
C.W. Nevius

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

When the balloon boy story broke last week - about the 6-year-old who was supposed to be helplessly soaring through Colorado in a balloon - there were lots of reactions.

But Marin contractor Dan Nowell had the most unusual.

Been there. Done that.

In 1964, Nowell was a skinny 11-year-old who volunteered to help launch a hot air balloon in Mill Valley. But when the balloon abruptly lifted off, his fingers became entangled in the rope. As a horrified crowd of 200 spectators watched, the sixth-grader from Tamalpais Valley Elementary School was hoisted 3,000 feet into the air.

"People still refer to me as the Balloon Boy," Nowell said. "My kids got pretty tired of it over the years. I did get some interesting phone calls and e-mails last week. I said, 'Somebody is trying to steal my thunder.' "

Unlike the kid from Colorado, whose parents face fines and charges for manufacturing the story, Nowell's experience was real and captured the nation's attention before news helicopters, Twitter, and cable news networks came to be.

"The most extraordinary thing was the power of the press," Nowell said. "I got letters from all over the world addressed to 'Balloon Boy.' "

more...
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/20/MNHK1A7P5F.DTL#ixzz0UUKISIFg




Dan Nowell, who didn't hear the command to let go of the balloon line, is yanked from the ground in Mill Valley in 1964.

Photo: Sal Veder / AP

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Wow! Now that had to have been terrifying for all involved.

[left coaster]

2. Lawnchair Larry lived the dream as well..

Does anyone else from the L.A. area remember him?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. I was in Orange County, sitting in a lawn chair in the back yard when I first heard the story

I was looking at my own flimsy lawn chair and wondering how I would feel to be 16,000 feet in the air sitting in the thing.

[Brother Buzz]

3. I went to school with Dan Nowell

It was a big event that even earned him a trip to New York to be on "To Tell The Truth". He sat with the host while the balloon pilot and two impostors were the contestants.

Just a fun side note: Dan has maintained a phone number listed under Bob Marley for over thirty years, today it's his company Fax number. Dan was a genuine Reggae enthusiast from the get-go.

I assume I'll see Dan this summer for our fortieth class reunion. I suspect more than one of us will tell him they thought of him when this crack-pot event was unfolding.