Steve Fossett

Feb 19 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

NATURE had not blessed him with the qualities of the regular team player, so the smiling philosopher, with a lust to leave his mark on the world, looked to the wider fields of sporting achievement, breaking numerous records.

But it is in the manner of his going that Steve Fossett will find lasting fame, a mysterious disappearance certain to excite speculation, films and books.

Last summer, Fossett, already celebrated as the first person to fly solo and non-stop around the world in a hot-air balloon, was hoping to become the fastest man on Earth by beating the 763mph achieved by the British driver, Andy Green.

On September 3, he set off in his light aircraft to search the Nevada desert for a suitable lake-bed on which to attempt that feat.

No trace of the man or his plane has ever been found, persuading a judge in Chicago to agree to the request of Fossett’s widow, Peggy, that he should be declared legally dead.

James Stephen Fossett was brought up in Garden Grove, California.

Asthma prevented the boy excelling at cross-country running and swimming but, while serving as a Boy Scout, he became fascinated by the possibilities of mountaineering and other outdoor pursuits, many of which were expensive.

In the true American style, Fossett took a degree in Economics and Philosophy at Stamford University and further business qualification, during which he also swam the Dardenelles.

After jobs in an IT department store and a brokerage company, he started his own Lakota Trading business, in Beaverbrook, Colorado, making the massive fortune which turned him into an epic adventurer, a man raised in the space age with the heart of classical hero.

In some ways, he could be compared to Richard Branson, a rival balloonist and a friend. Death-defying Fossett swam, ran marathons, climbed, drove racing cars and took part in a 1,165-miles sled dog race across Alaska. It took him four attempts to swim the English Channel and, when successful in 1985, he did it in the slowest recorded time of 22 hours and 15 minutes.

In 2002, Fossett, married with no children, was the first person to fly the 19,428.6 miles around the world in a hot-air balloon. In all, he set 116 records, 60 of which still stand.

Steve Fossett, adventurer; born April 22, 1944, declared dead February 15, 2008