Talk:Nik Wallenda/Archives/1

Pittsburgh

The news media refers to the walk in Pittsburgh on July 3, 2009 as setting a Guinness world record, but no one says what the record was. It would be interesting if the actual world record (or lack of one) were mentioned here. (Especially since many of his stunts supposedly set records...) Drbobpgh (talk) 22:10, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

He set a personal record for longest walk (1084 feet). Some people in the media got confused and thought it was a world record, but in fact no world record was set. --ThaddeusB (talk) 16:33, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Niagara Falls Walk

Someone needs to lock this page. It's getting a lot of vandalism after the stunt he pulled today. --Muppet321 (talk) 02:52, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Thank you -- I got a false positive for helping edit this page to keep it the way it should be after his stunt. 68.47.163.152 (talk)

WHAT STUNT? THERE WAS NO RISK. THANK YOU JESUS! THANK YOU JESUS! Way Over Hyped (talk) 02:57, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 16 June 2012

Please remove the reference to "since James Hardy". All indications are that Hardy, like the other daredevils of his day, crossed Niagra River Gorge, well away from the falls. Wallenda is the first person documented as crossing directly over the falls themselves.

You are correct & the change has been made. --ThaddeusB (talk) 14:41, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 16 June 2012

theres crude stuff written about him needs to be removed, ie, about his grandfather that he had sex with him . the guy is a hero he doesnt deserved to be vandalized!

64.134.232.45 (talk) 02:55, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

We have restored the article to a stable version. Maxim_(talk) 03:02, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

he's a hero??? wtf. what did he do? it was a big infomercial/advertisement. Fleetsndy (talk) 03:00, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 16 June 2012

He gives blow jobs for a living.

173.69.131.22 (talk) 02:56, 16 June 2012 (UTC) Please change this because it is totally not true and is not supported by anything.it is also extremely inappropriate.it should be deleted.

We have restored the article to a stable version. Maxim_(talk) 03:02, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

When asked for his passport he briefly indicated to Canadian authorities that he did not have it and would have to go back across the wire two more times to get it for them.

I disagree with such an addition as it would be going into trivial details for an encyclopedia article. Maxim_(talk) 03:09, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Remove "while secured to a safety harness" from the first paragraph and add that later on in the article. He is the first person to walk directly over the falls. No one else has done this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.62.156.219 (talk) 03:04, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Done. Maxim_(talk) 03:09, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 16 June 2012

Please just delete the following paragraph: "Unfortunately, the 4th Generation Daredevil would later succumb to heart failure to mental and physical fatigue from the stress of this stunt. He would later turn into a zombie and eat his family's hearts. This would lead to the zombie apocalypse." Plus, he's a seventh generation daredevil. Plus there is no reason to capitalize "generation" or "daredevil".

Also, if someone could find out what idiot wrote this and block them from Wikipedia, that would be fantastic.

Thank you.

98.193.253.166 (talk) 03:00, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

We have restored the article to a stable version. Maxim_(talk) 03:02, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 16 June 2012

There's vandalism e.g. the sentence about "blowj*bs" and the sentences about zombies. Remove this vandalism.

74.72.50.80 (talk) 03:15, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

It's been removed quite some time ago—try purging your cache. Maxim_(talk) 03:17, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

why can't you make it sound less like a pr write up

or was this written by his pr firm? the article is full of fawning prose & unnecessary verbiage Zuseamdz (talk) 23:16, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Could you be a bit more specific about what wording you are referring too? Even better, can you suggest specific improvements to be made? The article has been changing constant for the last 36 hours or so. --ThaddeusB (talk) 23:37, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

the words "death defying" in the lede seem a bit wp:peacock to me, I think they might go unless there is some citation or similarEdwardLane (talk) 11:05, 22 June 2012 (UTC)

A RS citation could easily be provided, but you are correct - the phrase "death-defying" is unnecessary and has now been removed. Thanks for the suggestion. --ThaddeusB (talk) 14:23, 22 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi ThaddeusB, you're welcome, 4 more bits (copy-pasted chunks below) that I think could be snipped out of the lede without it losing anything significant. And which I think would make it a cleaner read. I think most of the 'story' is still then left in the lede, but the details remain in the article for people to look at if they want more info.

• It took two years for Wallenda to convince authorities of the merits of his expensive, self-funded feat.

• Growing up as

• (suggest reword this) After briefly considering other career paths, he decided on high-wire walking in 1998 after joining family members in a seven-person pyramid on the wire.

• He decided on high-wire walking as a career path in 1998, after joining family members in a seven-person pyramid on the wire.

• From 2002-2005, he performed with his family at various venues,

That last one might still be worth leaving in there (not sure), I think I'd take it out myself, and I'm still trying to figure out how to rearrange/reword the section with dates to make it easier to read. EdwardLane (talk) 09:43, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

I've reworked the lead, taking into account your suggestions. Let me know what you think. --ThaddeusB (talk) 14:25, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

That sounds much more encyclopedic to me, good job. EdwardLane (talk) 10:40, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

"Wallendra"

Twice in the article his name appears incorrectly as "Wallendra"; in the last sentence before the Wheel of Steel section, and near the end of the Niagara Falls crossing section's 2nd paragraph - "Wallendra described the legal battle as the biggest challenge of his career." 109.77.30.136 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 16:12, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, the typo has not been fixed. --ThaddeusB (talk) 20:46, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Decent descent

The last word of the first paragraph under the Wheel of Steel heading needs to be changed from "decent" to "descent." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.232.240.84 (talk) 00:23, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

I've corrected the error. Thanks for the notice. --ThaddeusB (talk) 03:28, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

generation count

How does great-grandfather to great-grandson make Nik a "seventh-generation member of The Flying Wallendas family" rather than a fourth generation member, as the rest of us would be? His Christian faith perhaps?--Wetman (talk) 22:21, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

Karl Wallenda was not the first circus performer in the family, just the one that made the family famous (by taking the act to America and forgoing the nets). --ThaddeusB (talk) 23:12, 25 July 2012 (UTC)