Vertical Disparity's Laurra Maddock!!
Well, check this out! Is that really
good ol' Laurra Maddock??
Looks like Vertical Disparity dusted off another one of the classics! Lord knows
this team could use some experience on the load! That brings the maturity level up to
3/8 over
the age of 50, and evens out the testosterone with the estrogen!
Laurra is another team member who lives in Orange County, California,
originally coming from some coal-cracker town called Monongahela, Pennsylvania, famous for producing jar-heads and football players (it's a neck thing!). Although she had a torrid romance all through
grade school with Joe Montana, she eventually ditched him on prom night for the suave
and debonair Kent Lane. He obviously had a much more promising future.
Laurra has been skydiving since dirt, and she's got the stories to prove it!
She jumped for many years with an all-chick team called "Quest". If you're over 40, and been
skydiving for at least 10 years, you might remember reading about them in one of the
skydiving rags. Then again, if you're that old, you might not remember shit!
Laurra is also a yucca-hugger, living and loving life and all its creatures
to the fullest. She even single-handedly prevented the ground swell of inhumanity to cats by verbally combatting Pulizter Prize winning fiction novelist Larry Schatz, author of "The Man Who Loved Cat Chasing" (Skydiving Magazine #81). Laurra emerged the victor and was suitably bestowed with an autographed copy of Schatz's latest PPN, "Bedtime Stories For Skydivers," to which she was an inspiration.
Laurra and Kent also have a kitty paradise in their back yard: a virtual jungle
with a marine-like confidence course, raging rapids, and even a small wind tunnel just for little felines, so they can further advance their skydiving skills, now ready to return to the air to do battle with the next generation of limp-wristed girlie-man Cat Chasers.
Good, clean living is evident
in Laurra's tip-top physical condition, strong mental attitude, pleasant nature, and all-'round
fine skydiving. We can only hope some of this good stuff rubs off on the rest of this
group!
Sit down and make yourself comfortable.
Laurra's stories will entertain,
amaze you, and maybe even frighten you!
Q: Welcome to our nightmare, Laurra! Great to
see you back on the competition circuit! We understand you have LOTS of great stories to
tell us.
A: Well, I don't know how great they are,
but amazing things do seem to happen to me.
Q: So, we'll start with the basics: How many
jumps you got by now?
A: 1900 - you'd think after 20 years in the sport
I'd have way more than that--but I go for QUALITY, not QUANTITY!!!
Q: Why do you like doing 8-way?
A: Well, I'm not sure that I do! It's pretty early
in the game for me to answer that one. I've done a lot of 4-way, and Kent's done 8-way,
but I always thought that was kind of a lot of people....
Q: Well, you sure have competed a lot over the years.
Of all the aspects of skydiving, why competition?
A:Because I was asked. At my age, you gotta take
the opportunities when they come--there may not be another one!
Q: What's your favorite block?
A: Ask me at the END of the season... But by
the time anyone reads this, I'm sure I'll be liking all the ones we get through without
funneling!
Q: So, what was your most memorable skydive?
A: Oh, dear!
This is where we might have to
break off into several pages!! I've got so many, it's hard to pick.
After years doing demos
with the Coors team and then on our own, and being with people who push
the envelope to the max, I've got a laundry list. But, if I had to pick
only ONE, I'd have to pick two.
The first is the dive on which Kent
proposed to me. It's such an incredible story, I gotta tell it in
person. It was part of a mind boggling experience. The second was my
first night dive. Kent organized it for me. It was an August harvest
moon night in 1980 (or maybe 81--I forget). I barely had 100 jumps. Kent
put together the Visions team and Norm Kent (who sniveled on the load)
and me. We jumped out of the DC-3--I remember I was SO SCARED that I
would blow it. They took out their 8 way exit and I followed them. All I
focused on was Dave Wild's back pack (I followed him out)--not to lose
sight of it. Fortunately I didn't, and they built a round with me in the
center. I could do anything I wanted, so I went around the circle giving
everyone a kiss. The thing I didn't realize until later was that I
didn't touch anyone with my hands on the kiss passes. I remember I did
it that way because I knew I had to hurry. I made it around the circle
to everyone but Kent! (I got him later, though! ;)
Then there was the jump in '84 for President Reagan with the
Secret Service guys in the plane (we had to use 2-206's to get all the
SS guys in) where we met the Prez and his Missus and got our pics taken
with him...
And the demo into Cleveland Stadium in 30 knot winds where we
exited a mile from the stadium and backed up into the stadium--or
the...I could go on and on...
Q: Yes, you really do have some great
moments in skydiving to your credit! We'll look forward to adding additional
stories to these pages all summer long. I suppose with that many wild
experiences, you've got some pretty profound thoughts on skydiving...
A: It's a hellluva lot safer than racing
motorcycles (which I did for 6 years before making my first jump)!
Q: You're an incredible woman, Laurra.
The team sure is lucky to have you join. You bring a lot to the party!
A: Thanks for listening. Now let's beat
this heat and go make a jump onto a nice cool beach!
E-mail your questions for
Laurra right here!
Wanna meet another team member?
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