100-year-old daredevil makes Circus Ring of Fame
Wire-walker Charles Coronas, 100, will be inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame at St. Armand's Circle on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013.
(1.9.2013)(Herald-Tribune staff photo by Elaine Litherland)
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
by By Billy Cox
from: heraldtribune.com
January 11, 2013
SARASOTA - Hard of hearing, his gait assisted by a blue cane, questions frequently translated into his native Czech by his two daughters, 100-year-old Charles Coronas can, at times, appear unfocused.
But when asked if he would have wanted to wirewalk across Niagara Falls the way Sarasota's Nik Wallenda did last summer, the old circus veteran has no trouble making himself understood.
“Sure,” he declares softly, in English, “if I had been 10 years younger.”
Wire-walker Charles Coronas, 100, will be inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame at St. Armand's Circle on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013.
(1.9.2013)(Herald-Tribune staff photo by Elaine Litherland)
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
by By Billy Cox
from: heraldtribune.com
January 11, 2013
SARASOTA - Hard of hearing, his gait assisted by a blue cane, questions frequently translated into his native Czech by his two daughters, 100-year-old Charles Coronas can, at times, appear unfocused.
But when asked if he would have wanted to wirewalk across Niagara Falls the way Sarasota's Nik Wallenda did last summer, the old circus veteran has no trouble making himself understood.
“Sure,” he declares softly, in English, “if I had been 10 years younger.”
Charles Coronas performs a headstand atop a sway pole in this 1928 photograph. (Courtesy Photo)
There's an image: a 90-year-old die-hard making one last stand against the inevitability of gravity. But for nearly 60 years, that's exactly what Coronas — who hit the century mark last year — did on the high wire. And on Sunday, the New Port Richey resident will be the oldest living performer inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame at St. Armands Circle.
“Charles is pretty well known in this business,” says Ring of Fame Foundation president Floyd Kruger. “He's done some rather precarious things in his day.”
Daredevil Charles Coronas, now 100, second boy from right, will be inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame at St. Armands Circle on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013 along with his late brother, Mathias, seen at right.
(Courtesy Photo)
Such as riding a unicycle from 45 feet up, jettisoning it while performing a forward flip over three people, and landing safely on the cable. Or cutting down slender trees in Europe and converting them into 60-foot acrobat sway poles of dubious reliability.
A third-generation daredevil who found himself on the wire at age 8, Coronas would also endure some of Czechoslovakia's darkest days, both during and after World War II.
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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130111/article/130119917
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