Post by L Roebuck on Mar 10, 2006 9:14:34 GMT -5
Terror in a cave set for silver screen
Friday, March 10, 2006 By JAMES HANNAH ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BEAVERCREEK - When Roger Brucker sneaked into the cave where an explorer died in 1925, he felt the terror that gripped the man who became trapped in a tiny crevice and made national headlines for two weeks as rescuers frantically tried to pry him free.
Brucker, a cave explorer from Beavercreek in western Ohio, reconstructed the attempt to rescue Floyd Collins from Sand Cave near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky — crucial information for a book he co-wrote on the topic. Now, Paramount Pictures is planning to make a movie out of the book directed by and starring Billy Bob Thornton.
“It was a very scary place,” Brucker said. “It was kind of an eerie feeling to be there. Floyd was alone. He must have had the utmost sense of panic.”
CAVE ADVENTURE
After Collins died, Sand Cave was sealed and gated to keep cavers and curiosity seekers out. But in 1977, Brucker felt he had to see the cave for the book “Trapped” that he later wrote with Robert Murray.
He and several fellow cavers tromped through the woods at night and slipped into the off-limits cave, opening the bolted-shut gate and then digging through the earthen seal.
“We treated it as a clandestine operation,” Brucker said.
He soon discovered why the cave had been sealed.
“If you brushed against the ceiling, a rock the size of your fist would fall on your back,” he said.
Brucker found wood supports, electric wire, tools and other things that had been used in the Collins rescue attempt. And after six trips into the cave in a two-month period, Brucker learned its exact configuration.
Murray said the Collins story played off people’s fears of being trapped underground in the dark. Exploring alone, Collins became pinned under a rock ledge 60 feet from the surface and died before he could be rescued.
“I have always thought that would make a good movie,” said Brucker, 76. “I think if this is accurately presented, it’s going to scare a lot of people because it certainly scared me and scared a lot of people who were involved in that rescue. The conditions were so horrible.”
ONGOING RESEARCH
Brucker has extensively explored Mammoth Cave and is responsible for finding previously undiscovered passageways and mapping them, making the cave miles longer than once thought. At 365 miles, Mammoth is the world’s longest recorded cave.
Brucker has written four books on caves and is a co-founder of the Cave Research Foundation, which is devoted to the research and protection of caves.
On the walls of Brucker’s rec room hang maps of caves and photos of cave explorers — himself included. Bookshelves next to the fireplace bulge with National Geographic magazines.
Caves have interested Brucker since he was a child, when he would pile up chairs and card tables, then cover them with blankets.
When he was eight, Brucker’s mother took him to Mammoth Cave, where he pestered the guide with questions about where dark alleys shooting off from the main passageway led. The guide told him they went nowhere.
“I thought to myself, ‘One day I’m going to find out,’ ” Brucker said. “That, I think, clinched it for me.”
After graduating from Oberlin College, southwest of Cleveland, with an art degree and spending time in the Air Force, Brucker became serious about caving.
In 1954, he returned to Mammoth Cave, where he met a newspaper reporter who played a major role in the Collins rescue attempt by descending into the cave several times to bring Collins food and try to dig him out. That’s when Brucker began devoting himself to trying to find undiscovered passageways in the cave.
Over the years, Brucker has survived close calls when caving — including falling through a barrel-sized hole and into a chilly underground river.
Brucker still explores cave and recently bicycled across the country after surviving cancer, three heart attacks and having a kidney removed.
“The curiosity goes deep and wide,” Brucker said. “I want to know.”
On the Net:
Mammoth Cave: www.nps.gov/maca/home.htm
Roger Brucker: www.rogerbrucker.com/
Cave Research Foundation:
www.cave-research.org/
Reconstruction of 1925 cave rescue attempt:
TRAPPED: Cave explorer Floyd Collins became trapped in Sand Cave in 1925, making headlines for two weeks as rescuers tried unsuccessfully to pry him free.
RELIVING IT: Cave explorer and author Roger Brucker sneaked into the Kentucky cave in 1977 and later wrote “Trapped,” a book about the Collins rescue attempt.
SILVER SCREEN: Paramount Pictures is planning to make a movie out of the book. Billy Bob Thornton will direct the movie and star in it.
www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=273869&Category=20
Friday, March 10, 2006 By JAMES HANNAH ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BEAVERCREEK - When Roger Brucker sneaked into the cave where an explorer died in 1925, he felt the terror that gripped the man who became trapped in a tiny crevice and made national headlines for two weeks as rescuers frantically tried to pry him free.
Brucker, a cave explorer from Beavercreek in western Ohio, reconstructed the attempt to rescue Floyd Collins from Sand Cave near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky — crucial information for a book he co-wrote on the topic. Now, Paramount Pictures is planning to make a movie out of the book directed by and starring Billy Bob Thornton.
“It was a very scary place,” Brucker said. “It was kind of an eerie feeling to be there. Floyd was alone. He must have had the utmost sense of panic.”
CAVE ADVENTURE
After Collins died, Sand Cave was sealed and gated to keep cavers and curiosity seekers out. But in 1977, Brucker felt he had to see the cave for the book “Trapped” that he later wrote with Robert Murray.
He and several fellow cavers tromped through the woods at night and slipped into the off-limits cave, opening the bolted-shut gate and then digging through the earthen seal.
“We treated it as a clandestine operation,” Brucker said.
He soon discovered why the cave had been sealed.
“If you brushed against the ceiling, a rock the size of your fist would fall on your back,” he said.
Brucker found wood supports, electric wire, tools and other things that had been used in the Collins rescue attempt. And after six trips into the cave in a two-month period, Brucker learned its exact configuration.
Murray said the Collins story played off people’s fears of being trapped underground in the dark. Exploring alone, Collins became pinned under a rock ledge 60 feet from the surface and died before he could be rescued.
“I have always thought that would make a good movie,” said Brucker, 76. “I think if this is accurately presented, it’s going to scare a lot of people because it certainly scared me and scared a lot of people who were involved in that rescue. The conditions were so horrible.”
ONGOING RESEARCH
Brucker has extensively explored Mammoth Cave and is responsible for finding previously undiscovered passageways and mapping them, making the cave miles longer than once thought. At 365 miles, Mammoth is the world’s longest recorded cave.
Brucker has written four books on caves and is a co-founder of the Cave Research Foundation, which is devoted to the research and protection of caves.
On the walls of Brucker’s rec room hang maps of caves and photos of cave explorers — himself included. Bookshelves next to the fireplace bulge with National Geographic magazines.
Caves have interested Brucker since he was a child, when he would pile up chairs and card tables, then cover them with blankets.
When he was eight, Brucker’s mother took him to Mammoth Cave, where he pestered the guide with questions about where dark alleys shooting off from the main passageway led. The guide told him they went nowhere.
“I thought to myself, ‘One day I’m going to find out,’ ” Brucker said. “That, I think, clinched it for me.”
After graduating from Oberlin College, southwest of Cleveland, with an art degree and spending time in the Air Force, Brucker became serious about caving.
In 1954, he returned to Mammoth Cave, where he met a newspaper reporter who played a major role in the Collins rescue attempt by descending into the cave several times to bring Collins food and try to dig him out. That’s when Brucker began devoting himself to trying to find undiscovered passageways in the cave.
Over the years, Brucker has survived close calls when caving — including falling through a barrel-sized hole and into a chilly underground river.
Brucker still explores cave and recently bicycled across the country after surviving cancer, three heart attacks and having a kidney removed.
“The curiosity goes deep and wide,” Brucker said. “I want to know.”
On the Net:
Mammoth Cave: www.nps.gov/maca/home.htm
Roger Brucker: www.rogerbrucker.com/
Cave Research Foundation:
www.cave-research.org/
Reconstruction of 1925 cave rescue attempt:
TRAPPED: Cave explorer Floyd Collins became trapped in Sand Cave in 1925, making headlines for two weeks as rescuers tried unsuccessfully to pry him free.
RELIVING IT: Cave explorer and author Roger Brucker sneaked into the Kentucky cave in 1977 and later wrote “Trapped,” a book about the Collins rescue attempt.
SILVER SCREEN: Paramount Pictures is planning to make a movie out of the book. Billy Bob Thornton will direct the movie and star in it.
www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=273869&Category=20
