"Harvey Soss at Angel Falls in Venezuela"
December 15, 2005
Harvey Soss was one of my students back in
1972 or 1973. He made his first jump at Rip Cord Paracenter at the
Burlington County Airpark in New Jersey which was near Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. He told me that he did so poorly on his first jump that they
told him not to come back.
I coached him from his second jump all the way through to his
C-license. Harvey moved on from my DZ to the United Parachute Club. It was
always a pleasure to attend the Herd Boogie and visit with Harvey. He always
made me laugh and his take on the world was different than most. Anyone who
ever met Harv will tell you he was special. What a guy!
In this photo, taken by Tom Sanders, Soss can be seen falling down
the face of Angel Falls in Venezuela. Angel Falls is 3200 feet high and the
tallest waterfall in the World. By comparison, the water of Niagara Falls
has a drop of only 190 feet. Angel Falls is 15 times taller than Niagara
Falls.
Sadly, after over 7500 skydives and over a
hundred
BASE jumps, Soss was killed while on his motorcycle by a drunken driver who
ran a stop sign. At least he died doing something which he loved almost as
much as
skydiving. When he wasn't jumping out of airplanes he was driving his
Harley.
On my first visit to Harv's house in Festerville, PA I was surprised
to see his motorcycle parked in his kitchen. When I asked him why he had the
bike parked in the kitchen he replied, "No room in the bedroom."
Soss was a super person and a very good
friend for over 30 years. Hundreds of people, mostly skydivers and
motorcyclists, attended his funeral
services. I'm embarrassed to say that I was so choked with emotion during
the services that I felt I couldn't speak about him without breaking down in
tears...as many other people did.
Harvey Soss was one of my favorite people.
And this picture of him BASE jumping Angel Falls is one of my favorite
pictures.
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