Word: kite
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...kite rises to celestial regions, My soul enters the abode of bliss. ?Buddhist monk, 9th century...
...Kites have dared the heavens for thousands of years, pacifying the gods, protecting souls, relaying lovers' messages, celebrating the seasons. Frorn the Chinese Han dynasty through the space age, kites made of leaves, paper, silk and now plastic have also been used to catch fish, spy on enemies, send signals, divine the weather, explore the atmosphere, photograph the earth, tow boats, advertise corsets, drop bombs and loft men and women into the wind. In the past decade the kite, the honorable ancestor of all aircraft, has colored American skies in vast numbers, dazzling hues, and sufficient shapes, sizes and forms...
...Sales of kites soar higher every year, seemingly resistant to economic downdrafts. Manhattan's Go Fly A Kite, the first kite store to open in the U.S., in 1965, grossed over $1 million last year; today there are more than 90 such stores nationwide. Valerie Govig, 43, editor of Kite Lines, the only U.S. magazine devoted to the pastime, sees "an increased sophistication and appreciation of kites as an art, a science and an adult sport." An estimated 150 million kites will be sold this year. People turn out in ever greater profusion for such events as the Great Boston...
...Kite flying is no childish pastime. It demands skill, ingenuity and an attention span rarely possessed by the young. Some of the great kite innovators, after all, have included such mature fellows as Leonardo da Vinci, Ben Franklin, the Wright brothers and Alexander Graham Bell, whose tetrahedral model once lifted a man 168 ft. According to Wyatt Brummitt, author of a 1971 book called?what else? ?Kites, it helps a kiter to be "slightly nutty." Brummitt, 81, adds that enthusiasts must also have "a little imagination and a little sense of serenity to enjoy the sense of extension...
Unlike almost any other sport, kite flying involves no standardized equipment or rules; it appeals equally to the mystic and the scientist, the fresh-air buff and the do-it-yourselfer who devises and builds his own bird of balsam and plastic. The variety of kites aloft can make a city sky look like a sociocultural anthology of man's immemorial urge...