h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dear Icy North,

Thank you so much for writing that fascinating and hope-fulfilling article on this quite extraordinary Englishman.

I was still living in South Africa, at the time and I watched his extraordinary attempts to conquer the extremely difficult art of Sk8 jumping, initially with horrorified dismay, and slowly with increasing admiration for a man who would not give up under any circumstances.

I do not think that I was able to watch the actual Olympics that year. However I never watch the Ski Jumping without thinking to myself.

"I wonder what happened to Eddie the Eagle"

It would be wonderful if somehow you could arrange to have him invited to attend the 2012 Ski Jumping Olympics wherever they are held. Certainly it is going to be worth remembering a man who had so much courage and guts that he never gaver up.

A true Englishman.


Thank you for writing that fascinating article about him.
He really epitomises everything that is admirable about the concept of the "bulldog Englishman".

He never gave up.

Bravo Eddie.

And thank you Icy North for making him live again in our memories.

sincerely,

Christiane M.E.
Also Ran80

Thank you Christiane.

It was a lot of fun to research - he's such a colourful character, and absolutely fearless.

If you're interested, then one of the links I added to the entry has a long BBC Gloucestershire radio interview with Edwards, 20 years after Calgary. In it he describes his moment of fame and some of what he's been up to since.

Icy

In the mid 90s a new kind of sports centre was opened in the UK. Near the Midlands town of Tamworth, and enormous refrigerated building housed the first indoor, "real" snow ski-slope in the UK.

One of their early publicity stunts was that one of their ski instructors was none other than Eddie the Eagle. It was some years later I started going to Tamworth snowdome regularly, and chatting to the instructors there at the time. One of them had worked with Edwards when the place first opened, and described him in slightly awestruck terms as the best natural skier he had ever seen bar none, and a really lovely bloke who was particularly good with kids.

Dear Icy North.

Thank you I shall enjoy going to the link

Christiane
AR80

Dear Smoke hammer,

Thank you for your comments. I take back immediately the word I used about poor Eddie being "inept". what on earth do I know about Ski jumping except to say that I would be totally petrified doing it, and I have never been on skis in my life.

so thank you for letting us know that he was the most natural skier. he certainly made it look as difficult as I think it must be. !!

Well I live and learn. !! so thank you for letting me know. !1

sincerely.
Christiane AR80

I also found this story about creating a permanent UK ski-jump at Gresford:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_east/4546420.stm

It has a good picture of Edwards jumping, too.

Dear icy

You have given me a lot of reading. I am off to the cardiologist tomorrow in London, so will do my "homework" on Eddie the Eagle on Thursday or Friday.

Thank you.

sincerely,

christiane AR80

Just wanted to say thanks for this.

What an incredible story. That's the true Olympic spirit.

Hi Dmitri.

Thanks for reading!

Icy North…your well researched article brought back a fond memory of Eddie when we had a day together at a local event.

He was a charming guy and delightful company. He was very realistic, modest and pragmatic about his ‘fame’ and was hoping to convert it into a career in stunt work.

He attributed much of his boldness to his extreme short-sightedness, explaining that when he took off from the top of the ski ramps he couldn’t see the ground anyway! Another problem was his lack of training facilities, as he could rarely afford to go anywhere where there was actually any snow, so he used to practice landings by jumping off the roof of his garden shed!

Although I think he appreciated that the Great British Public generally regarded him with genuine affection, I felt he was hurt by those few who dismissed him purely as a figure of fun. He rightly pointed out that launching oneself off an Olympic Ski Jump – an event mostly unknown to the British at the time – was an inherently dangerous thing to do.

As he rightly observed, “I may not be a very good Olympic Ski Jumper – but I am the best we’ve got!”

Thanks Minnie's Dad, and welcome to h2g2

Every first-hand account of Edwards that I have either read or heard agrees that he was one of the nicest guys you could meet.

Icy

In case you didn't know, Eddie has just (Thursday 5 March) appeared on ITV1 in 'Britain's Best Dish' cooking an Apple & Blackberry Crumble. I expect this will be viewable online on ITV's website tomorrow. It included some nice segments on Eddie with his family and chatting about his career.

It went down well enough for the judges to pick it and he will appear in tomorrow's programme as well.

So, something of a result for his Agent too, I imagine.

Thanks MD - I'll try to catch that at the weekend.

Icy

Thank you so much for that information. as I have just had my Tv connected to SKY hopefully I shall be able to view it again. It was very thoughtful of you to let us know.

Many thanks.

Christiane
AR80