HUCKLEBERRIES: LaTourrette recalls his 'Evel' classmate

Steve LaTourrette knew his boyhood friend would land on his feet, even if he crashed.

On Sept. 8, 1974, Steve predicted that Evel Knievel, his old high school buddy from Butte, Mont., would successfully fly across the Snake River Canyon, near Twin Falls, in his X2 Skycycle.

Steve told the Coeur d’Alene Press 50 years ago: “He will make it. He has a way of making a statement and, somehow, he comes through and makes good.”

The fabled jump, of course, went wrong from the start. A parachute opened prematurely, sending the Skycycle floating to the canyon floor, where it landed a few feet from the river.

Knievel was slightly injured — and at least $6 million richer, according to The Press.

“The world kind of shined on him because he did such crazy things,” said Steve LaTourrette recently.

In August, Steve retired from LaTourrette’s Styling Salon after cutting hair here for 56 years.

He cut Knievel’s hair whenever the daredevil was in the area promoting dealers’ motorcycles.

Steve first met Robert Craig (Evel) Knievel while playing Little League Baseball in Butte.

“He never went out for any sports that I can recall,” Steve told The Press prior to the 1974 jump. “He liked to ski. When he got older, he really became a ski jump freak. He also was real good at hockey — sort of goofy but good.”

Steve suspected that Knievel played hockey because he liked to fight.

In the 1974 interview, Steve recalled a time during high school when he spotted Knievel stumbling down the street badly beaten, with a broken nose. The future stuntman had just come from the emergency room after being battered by six toughs who had insulted his girlfriend. He wanted Steve’s help to find the bullies and fight them again.

“I wouldn’t have gone in that part of town with a machine gun,” Steve said.

Knievel rode Harley-Davidsons before motorcycles were fashionable, Steve said. When Knievel started jumping motorcycles over objects, Steve asked him why he did it.

“He offered that he had nothing going for him,” Steve said. “No education except for high school. His dad sold Volkswagens and other foreign cars. And he decided that was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.”

Evel Knievel made — and spent — fortunes during his jumping exhibitions, from 1965 to 1980. He crashed 19 times in about 75 attempts to land ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. He still holds the Guinness World Record as the survivor with the most broken bones in a lifetime: 433 (although Knievel maintained he’d “only” broken 35, according to media reports).

Knievel died at age 69 in 2007.

Steve LaTourrette, the legendary stylist known for quality haircuts, said he admired Knievel despite his crazy stunts: “He was sort of a Pied Piper to his huge following of fans.”

Arfee Flap

A hot potato, named “Arfee,” landed on Lee White in September 2014 when he became Coeur d’Alene police chief. The town was still fuming about the cop killing of a 2-year-old black Labrador of that name.

These are the facts:

On July 9, local police were called to investigate a suspicious van at a Sherman Avenue coffee shop. As one officer approached the van, Arfee lunged at him through a half-open window. Stunned, the cop shot and killed the dog. Meanwhile, Arfee’s owner was inside the coffee shop.

Initial police reports fanned public anger by identifying Arfee incorrectly as a pit bull. CPD was bombarded with angry phone calls and emails. And a “Justice for Arfee” Facebook page attracted 2,229 followers.

On Sept. 6, Chief White announced the findings of an internal investigation: The shooting wasn’t justified. The erring officer was docked pay. Mayor Steve Widmyer issued an apology. And Coeur d’Alene reached an out-of-court settlement for $80,000 with Arfee’s owner: Craig Jones. He’d wanted $350,000.

So everyone came out ahead, except Arfee.

Durable Kate

“Kate,” the bronze bicyclist pursued by two sculpted dogs at Riverstone Park, has been knocked down twice — in 2004 and 2014.

And gotten back up each time.

Originally, the statue was supposed to be the first in a series of six works by artist David Clemons, stretching along the North Idaho Centennial Trail. But Clemons crafted only two: “Kate” at State Line and an 1890 photographer “Leopold” at Higgens Point.

And then Kate was vandalized.

In September 2004, some jerk steered his vehicle onto the Centennial Trail and rammed “Kate.”

“Somebody was very malicious and serious about it,” Clemons said at the time.

In 2005, “Kate” was restored by the Coeur d’Alene Arts Commission and moved to Riverstone Park — only to be stolen in January 2014. This time, Clemons feared metal thieves were to blame. Happily, two months later, an antler hunter found “Kate” along the Yellowstone Trail, east of Coeur d’Alene. Again, she was restored.

You can’t let the bad guys win.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Next time we free/Our fellow man/It might be wise/To have a plan — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Iraq Lesson”).

• Summer’s End: For decades, summer wasn’t over in Twin Lakes until “Lindy” tossed candy to the kids. Tom and Orlinda Gunning, owners of Uncle Tom’s Resort, began the tradition in 1955. After Tom died in 1959, Lindy continued the custom at least for two decades more, into her late 70s. The couple also sponsored a  community Easter egg hunt. They made a difference.

• Mansion TLC: In 1984, after four years in Scottsdale, Ariz., Kathy Sims returned to Coeur d’Alene to buy the historic Blackwell House from jewelers Ralph and Jean Clark. And then transformed it into a bustling bed-and-breakfast business and reception venue. The stately mansion at Ninth and Sherman outshines a patch of downtown awash in cookie-cutter townhouses.

• Gas Savers: In September 1979, when Soap Box Derby racing was popular in this somewhat hilly town, the Brothers Hardin — Ty, 14, and Brad, 8 — challenged all comers. Their contraptions were fashioned from wood, wheels and anything else at hand. The racers were fuel-efficient, of course. And you thought electric cars were the wave of the future?

• Hail to the Kroc: It’s a good thing that Mayor Sandi Bloem & Co. landed $65 million in 2006 to build and sustain the Kroc Center. Otherwise, we still wouldn’t have a community center. In November 1999, city residents soundly rejected an advisory vote for a $6.3 million center: 3,655 nays to 2,305 ayes. The need was there all along. We just needed someone else to pay for it.

Parting shot

And just like that, 40 years have passed. In biblical terms, 40 is the number for testing — you know, rain drenched and drowned Noah's neighbors for 40 days and 40 nights. On Sept. 10, 1984, I reported for work at the Coeur d’Alene bureau of The Spokesman-Review. And was assigned to cover a contract dispute between teachers and the school district. Thirty-three years later, I literally turned the lights off on the SR’s North Idaho operations on the day I “retired”: Sept. 1, 2017. In between, I was a reporter, editorial writer, columnist and blogger in the Great North Idaho Newspaper War between the SR and The Press. Since the Cowles family recently sold its four-story, brick SR building on Northwest Boulevard, you can guess which side won. For the last four-plus years, I’ve enjoyed writing this column for the hometown paper. I pray I haven’t tested your patience too much these last 40 years.

• • •

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at dfo@cdapress.com.

    In 2018, Steve LaTourrette is shown cutting 12-year-old Jane Robinson’s hair as he approached the 50th anniversary of his Coeur d’Alene business. The legendary stylist has retired.
 Press file

    In September 2014, Justice for Arfee Rally organizer Kiela Long of Coeur d/Alene cheered on other participants.
Press file

    In 2004, artist David Clemons inspected damage to his creation, “Kate,” watched by wife, Sandy, and Kurtis Robinson, director of the county Parks and Waterways Department.
Press file

    In September 1979, Orlinda “Lindy” Gunning, 78, tossed candy to children at Lower Twin Lakes, signifying that summer was over.
Press file

    In 1984, Kathy Sims, left, bought the Blackwell House from Ralph and Jean Clark of Clark’s Jewelry.
Press file

    In 1979, brothers Ty, left, and Brad Hardin of Coeur d’Alene are shown with their fuel-efficient Soap Box Derby racers.
Press file

    In 2022, Sue Thilo was honored as the first life member of the Kroc Advisory Board. She was instrumental in landing sustaining funding for the impressive center after voters in 1999 turned down an advisory vote for a much smaller one.
Press file

    In 1984, D.F. (Dave) Oliveria’s first reporting assignment involved contentious contract negotiations between teachers and the Coeur d’Alene School District. Bob Haakenson, left, and Sandy Wright represented the teachers in those talks.
 Courtesy photo