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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIawNRm9NWM[/youtube]
Ironically, before 9/11 no one in New York had a lot of affection for the Twin Towers. I always loved the scene in the 1987 children's book Unbuilding by David Macaulay where a fictional Middle Eastern prince buys the city's beloved Empire State Building with the intention of moving it to the Arabian desert, and "a desperate but clever preservationist suggested that the World Trade Center be offered instead -- both for the price of the Empire State Building."
Nevertheless, over the years the building began to grow on New Yorkers. One summer when I had a job in a bank office on Wall Street, we all watched out the window amazed when toymaker George Willig climbed up the side of one of the towers using a homemade rigging device that used the tracks built for window washing baskets. But Willig was not the first daredevil to be drawn to the site. A few years earlier, Philippe Petite performed the death-defying stunt of walking a tightrope he secretly strung between the two towers.
The 2008 documentary Man on Wire tells the dramatic story of Petite's life and the prank that made him famous. Watching it can help show kids, and remind us, of the grudging affection New Yorkers developed for the massive but not particularly friendly buildings that once dominated the city landscape.
Another version of the story is told in the 2004 Caldecott Medal-winning book, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. Gerstein's book was made into a wonderful animated short by award-winning children's film director Michael Sporn. Using Gerstein's original words and illustrations, the film is narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal and features music by Michael Bacon of the Bacon Brothers. The DVD from Scholastic Storybook Treasures includes several other inspiring non-fiction tales, all adapted from picture books and narrated by well-known Hollywood actors. Along with The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, there is Miss Rumphius, the true story of Miss Rumphius who made the world a more beautiful place with a handful of seeds, narrated by Claire Danes, and The Dinosaurs of Warehouse Hawkins narrated by Jonathan Pryce, the awe-inspiring tale of the first life-sized dinosaur model. Altogether, the DVD runs about an hour, and is aimed at ages 5-10.
Both films are positive ways to remember buildings that were once unloved but will always be remembered.
