...Local history: New Philadelphia's 'Paddy Strine' excelled on wire.
By Jon Baker TimesReporter.com staff writer
Posted Nov 20, 2011
John Edward “Paddy” Strine of New Philadelphia possessed an extraordinary sense of balance.
At the age of 12, he discovered that he had a gift for walking on tightropes without a balancing pole. That led him to a long career performing at circuses, street fairs and homecomings — well into his 60s.
His specialty was walking on the slack wire, where the rope or wire hangs a bit loose and the tension on the wire is provided by the performer and his props. It’s a dangerous stunt to perform.
“Anything can happen to you on the slack wire,” Strine told the Dover Daily Reporter in 1935. “On a 7-foot stretch of swaying wire, one misstep may mean a serious mishap.”
Yet Strine never had a bad spill.read more at:http://www.timesreporter.com/opinion/columnists/x2075768011/Local-history-New-Philadelphias-Paddy-Strine-excelled-on-wire
At the age of 12, he discovered that he had a gift for walking on tightropes without a balancing pole. That led him to a long career performing at circuses, street fairs and homecomings — well into his 60s.
His specialty was walking on the slack wire, where the rope or wire hangs a bit loose and the tension on the wire is provided by the performer and his props. It’s a dangerous stunt to perform.
“Anything can happen to you on the slack wire,” Strine told the Dover Daily Reporter in 1935. “On a 7-foot stretch of swaying wire, one misstep may mean a serious mishap.”
Yet Strine never had a bad spill.read more at:http://www.timesreporter.com/opinion/columnists/x2075768011/Local-history-New-Philadelphias-Paddy-Strine-excelled-on-wire
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