Being Evel

Being Evel ★★

I've seen parts of this before, but I saw the last half hour again on tv this morning. I still can't get over the 1977 attack on Shelly Saltman for writing a book (Evel Knievel on Tour) about Evel that was accurate but made him look very bad (but it was approved by Evel's lawyers pre-publication). Knievel had a guy restrain him while Knievel nearly beat him to death with an aluminum baseball bat. In front of many witness. And he only got 6 months in prison with a work furlough. After telling the judge that Saltman deserved it, he wouldn't take it back, and he'd do it again too. And going on talk shows about it and saying pretty much the same thing. Also Saltman's mother died as a result of a heart attack when she heard of the attack on her son. Saltman also sued Knievel for $13 million in damages, but Knievel never paid up. That means it's now over $100 million with interest - and it still remains uncollected after Saltman died in 2019. What really killed me though is that Saltman in this documentary himself said that he wished Evel Knievel to be remembered as a courageous hero. I mean, WHAT?!

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