Philippe Petit - Later Life

Later Life

Petit has made dozens of public high-wire performances in his career; in 1986 he re-enacted the crossing of the Niagara River by Blondin for an Imax film. In 1989, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, mayor Jacques Chirac invited him to walk a wire strung from the ground, at the Place du Trocadéro, to the second level of the Eiffel Tower.

Petit briefly headlined with the Ringling Brothers Circus, but circus life did not agree with him. It was during his stint with the circus that he suffered his only fall, from 45 feet (14 m) during a practice walk, breaking several ribs. He says he has never fallen during a performance. "If I had, I wouldn't be here."

Petit regularly gives lectures and workshops internationally on a variety of topics and subjects. He single-handedly built a barn in the Catskill Mountains using the methods and tools of the 18th-century timber framers; and currently, he is working on his eighth book, A Square Peg. He has also created an ebook for TED Books entitled Cheating the Impossible: Ideas and Recipes from a Rebellious High-Wire Artist.

Among his friends who have associated themselves with some of his projects are such diverse artists as: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Werner Herzog, Annie Leibovitz, Milos Forman, Volker Schlöndorff, Twyla Tharp, Peter Beard, Marcel Marceau, Paul Auster, Paul Winter, Debra Winger, Robin Williams and Sting. Director James Signorelli assisted with the creation of the book To Reach the Clouds.

Petit has been presented with the James Park Morton Interfaith Award, the Streb Action Maverick Award, The Byrdcliff Award, is the recipient of the New York Historical Society Award and was made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. Petit shares his time between New York City where he is an artist in residence at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and a hideaway in the Catskills.