Skydivers' Stories: NSTIWTIWGD—And Other Tales We Tell Each Other

An action-packed day of adventure involving parachutes often ends with pumped-up jumpers exchanging stories at the bar or around a bonfire. When the tales they tell each other begin with “NSTIW”, they may or may not include “TIWGD”, but they’ll always have everyone within earshot leaning closer, waiting to hear the tale of near death, hilarity and/or mishaps their friend experienced. These stories are written by the people who lived them. Most of one’s jumps tend to fade over time, but those jumps where something went wrong are forever etched in our memories. The reader will find tales that begin up there—in the bright blue yonder—and end on terra firma, usually happily and without injury or death. In-between are the moments of terror, self-doubt, triumph, and Adrenalin-pumping action that define a jumper’s world. They are part of the history of the sport called skydiving, and around the world, at parachute centers and drop zones everywhere, their telling and retelling—often with embellishment—is part of our ritual. Even if you’ve never thought you’d want to strap on a rig and jump from an airplane, you can laugh, sweat, and shake your head in wonder along with the rest of us who enjoy a good story. Most of these stories happened in the 1960s to the ‘80s—the early days of skydiving—when sex was safe, and skydiving was dangerous. When the rules were just rough guidelines and the sport went from round canopies and style/accuracy practice to squares and relative work (today’s formation skydiving). From the joy of seeing a friend survive disaster to taking part in a DZ prank or two, these stories bring back that era like none other. This compilation of stories (150pp) was first published in late 2015 to entertain their fellow skydivers and friends, and is a labor of love by its collaborators—Tim Long, Doug Garr, Michael Kearns and Jan Works. Profits from the book's sale will be donated to building and maintaining the International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame.