CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
I
n 1933, a motorcycle stunt showman named
Skip Fordyce brought his barnstorming show
to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. After Fordyce per-
formed, one of the onlookers blurted out; "I
can do anything you can do." Fordyce looked
over his shoulder and saw a long, lean,
hungry-looking boy who, at first glance, didn't
look like anything special. It was a teenaged
kid named Carey Loftin.
Fordyce had traveled the country, and along
the way, he's heard many a young braggart
in the crowds he performed for claiming the
stunts he was doing were no big deal. Usu-
ally, Fordyce would ignore them, knowing from
experience that calling their bluff would usually
only result in a big-mouthed kid hurting himself.
However, Loftin didn't come off like the typi-
cal young punk that Fordyce had to deal with;
P118
FALLING
FOR
HOLLYWOOD
instead, he appeared to be a clean-cut and
confident-looking teenaged kid. Something
told Fordyce to give the kid a chance.
"Show me," Skip said. With that Loftin
disappeared. Skip continued talking with
the crowd of onlookers, thinking at first that
maybe the kid was bluffing after all. Sud-
denly Loftin appeared, roaring back onto the
field on his ancient cycle. Skip found himself
watching a very solid performance as the kid
reeled off a series of side stands and seat
stands. Then the kid began bouncing on the
seat, his feet landing in a different position
with every jump. Then he bounced around
and rode backward. Then he turned the bike
around and headed back toward the crowd.
Skip could sense that this was to be the
grand finale, so he watched carefully. Sud-
denly the kid began jumping up and down on
the seat and then unexpectedly he launched
himself in the air, his body doing a complete
flip and landing with his feet on the ground
behind the speeding bike and holding on to
the rear seat with his hands. He was steering
the bike with his feet by digging in one shoe
or the other. As the cycle neared Skip and
the crowd, the kid snapped forward, popped
up over the rear wheel and onto the seat
before coming to a perfect stop.
(Below) Loften
also competed
on motorcycles,
including
hillclimbs.
Carey Loftin
found his niche
as a motorcycle
stuntman.
