Here was a man who many may years ago ceased to be Robert Craig Knievel and has been living as Evel Knievel in his own mind ever since. That was obvious just from watching how everyone in that town acted around him, and it’s hardly surprising given that he’s the only thing that backwater town will ever be known for. And let’s face it, given that he never really amounted to much more than a mega-media personality, how could he have not allowed himself to become totally absorbed in that world as his fame started to diminish?

The real problem with that interview is that Hammond, with all due respect to the man, really didn’t “get” small-town conservative America. Knievel was a frail old shadow of a man who was still living as a king in his own castle. Hammond could have been the queen of england and it wouldn’t have made a difference, to Knievel he was just another reporter trying to call the shots on the story he wanted. And that really is exactly what Hammond was doing…he obviously had great respect and admiration for his childhood hero and wanted nothing more than to find out more about person inside. The problem is, there wasn’t much there to discover, and what little was left was fiercely guarded with the usual suspicious, highly-protective mentality that small communities in the US often harbor towards outsiders.

this is true american grit, true american behaviour. feck ‘em and leave ‘em