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Eddie Holt, Kite Flyer

by Ken Thompson

     “Let it out easy … Feel the pull … Work with it … We got all day.”

     I listened to Eddie. He would get the kite up. I learned from him. He knew his stuff. He was the best.

     Eddie Holt lived in 421 Avenue “C” in an apartment rented to his sister. In the apartment were his Mom, his widowed sister, and her daughter. Eddie and his Mom moved in to share the expenses and the space when his sister’s husband died unexpectedly.

     Eddie, as far as I know, was never married. He worked as a third shift elevator operator in Manhattan when being an elevator operator was a skill job.

     Let me go back a little bit.

     About two weeks earlier my Mom had bought me a ten cent Hi-Flier bow kite after getting tired of hearing me whine about there being nothing new to do though there was tons of old stuff to do. I hadn’t flown a kite before so this was something new. Assembling the kite was easy and attaching the small spool of string to it was a cinch. My Mom even located an old tie of my Dad’s to use as a tail.

     With my Mom looking on from the apartment kitchen window, my friend Jimmy joined me in the street for the maiden lift off. Our results were less than stellar. I would run with it and the breeze would make the kite go left and right but it wouldn’t go up. The concern for the trees on the block wasn’t an issue yet since the kite wasn’t going up. Even Jimmy who seemed to always be good at everything couldn’t get the kite up against the sky. We tried different approaches: tail on/tail off, running fast/running slow, him/me, etc., nothing worked. That’s when we first met Eddie.

     He was coming home from work and evidently had been watching us for a little while. When he first spoke it was with empathy and experience, “It’s hard getting a kite up in the street with the traffic and the trees. Have you been trying long?”

     “Nah, about a half hour. There just isn’t enough wind.”

     He just kept looking as we tried again with no luck. “You’re Jimmy who lives in 421 aren’t you?”
     “Yeah. Who are you?”

     “I’m Eddie Holt. I’m Joanne Lichevski’s uncle. I live in 421 also; on the fourth floor.”

     We just looked over as acknowledgement. I took another shot at getting the kite up but all it did was spin in a tight circle and crash head first into the street tar.

     Eddie spoke again, “If you want I’ll give you some help in teaching you to kite to fly. Meet me on the 421 roof.”

     Jimmy nodded okay without verbally committing and Eddie walked off through the alley behind the apartment houses.

     “You gonna go up there?”

     “Sure, why not?”

     “I don’t know. … It’s my kite.”

     “We’ll both go. Nothing’s gonna happen. It’s daytime.”

     “I don’t know.”

     “I’ve seen him before. We know Joanne. Don’t be a sissy, we’ll be okay.”

     I called up to my Mom and told her I was gonna try to fly from the roof where the wind was better. After back and forth talk with me whining and she being a Mom, she told me it was okay but to be careful.

     When we got to the roof, Eddie was already there. The first thing he did was introduce himself again, get our names and shake our hands. He was treating us like people. His first message to us was simple and absolute, “If you’re gonna fly a kite from a roof you NEVER run. If you’re watching the kite you can’t see where you’re going and people don’t survive falls from roof tops.”

     Eddie walked us to the back of the roof where the ledge was low and we all looked over to the garbage cans way below. We all agreed and committed that running was a no-no.

     We then found out the second rule of roof-top kite flying from Eddie, “If God doesn’t want the kite to go up today then it’s a good day to do something else.”

     Eddie then had me try to get the kite up by myself and I had only slightly better luck than down in the street. Jimmy gave it a try and to my petty enjoyment, did no better.

     Eddie made some quick adjustments in my kite and then said he would show us a `high lift’. He had me walk the kite out about 30 feet and hold it at the very bottom of the kite with the head sticking up. He had the string to the kite taut, but not tight, and just stood there. All of a sudden he gave a gentle tug and the kite lifted out of my hand and into the sky. Eddie then gave us a third rule of kite flying: “You gotta have patience to fly a kite whether from the street, a field, or a rooftop. There’s no rush.”

     Jimmy and I took turns holding the line and pulling the string back and forth to make the kite climb. We had let out all the string but the kite wasn’t that far out. I knew we needed more string, or line as Eddie taught us to call it. Eddie had us bring the kite in and take turns launching it. He showed us how to wind the line onto a nine inch stick so it wouldn’t get knotted. He showed us how to properly deck, I called it land, a kite with two people – one pulling the line in and working the kite and the other winding the line from behind.

     We did this for an hour and Eddie finally told us he had to leave so he could get some rest before he had to go to work again. We kept on launching, flying and decking the kite for another hour or so. We would have little arguments as to the techniques Eddie had told us. No matter what though, we followed Eddie’s three rules.

     We spent the next day picking out, assembling and bridling a Hi-Flier kite for Jimmy. Even though we got done early, Jimmy didn’t want to give a maiden launch till Eddie was there to see how well he did.

     We waited by the alley till Eddie came down the block. This time, besides his newspaper, Eddie had three things with him. When Jimmy asked what they were for Eddie said, “I found these old, wooden Venetian blinds in the garbage on the way to work, the wood is good for building kites. The butcher paper is to put on the kite and in the bag is a large spool of cord I bought to use as a line for flying the kites. How about I’ll see you on the roof in 15 minutes?”

     “Sure.” we said gleefully and headed up to the roof with our Hi-Fliers, anxious to demonstrate our new found skills to someone who would appreciate them.

     When Eddie came onto the roof he had his own kite, his chord, and a small, metal band-aid box. While we were ready to fly our kites we were more interested in what Eddie had.

     After he laid out his stuff Eddie gave us his fourth rule for kite flying “You don’t have to spend much money to have fun and some times the best things are homemade or even free.”

     Eddie then took time to show us the hexagon kite he had just made. He showed us the frame, how he put string to hold the paper, how he had put the paper on, and how he had bridled it. He explained that the tails he had were long thin strips on old bed sheets that would work better than the shorter ties we were using.

     I asked Eddie if the band-aid box had band-aids for when we got burns from the string when we were letting the line out flying the kite. He gave a small laugh and spilled out its contents in a small pile on the roof and said. “Yeah, it is sort of a first aid kit but for the kite. There’re two band-aids in there, tape, and a pair of scissors but the rest of the stuff is fishing stuff… ball bearing swivels, snaps, split rings that make attaching line and tails to the kites easier.”

     We gave out oohs and aahs as we poked through the contents. Eddie then announced his fifth rule, “If you came make things easier and better for yourself you may as well.”

     Eddie showed us how to use the small stainless steel pieces and different knots and he was absolutely right… things got easier. We spent the rest of the time putting kites up and taking then down, seeing the differences when we moved the connections between the lines and the bridles and learning the impact of different lengths and weights of tail. Eddie gave us lots of line from the cone of chord he bought.

     The next day, Saturday, was very breezy and the kites went up fast. The first time I put my kite up and let some line out, the pull on the kite snapped the line near the bridle and all I had was a limp line as the kite floated into the top of some trees. After reeling in the line I was mad that I no longer had a kite. Eddie said he would help me make one which cheered me up a little. All I could do is watch Jimmy and Eddie with their kites and wind line for them. It was okay though.

     Jimmy smartened up fast and carefully pulled in and decked his kite to avoid losing it. It had a couple of small rips that could be fixed with cellophane tape. Eddie complimented Jimmy on how he had carefully tended his kite to get it safely back. This gave rise to Eddie’s next rule; “Pay attention. Whatever you do you have to watch over your kite ‘cause if you don’t, you run the risk of it breaking or you losing it.”

     Eddie’s own kite was better able to handle the stronger wind but his line got caught on some TV antennas on one of the six-story apartment buildings. While we worked it as best he could he finally gave up. Stoically, he opened the band aid box, took out the small scissors and cut the line. Jimmy and I went to the roof of the apartment house and got the kite free and wound up the line. When we got back Eddie gave me the kite to keep. As we started putting our stuff together Eddie gave us his next rule, “Sometimes things just aren’t worth fighting. Be willing to let things go and move on.”

     Through the rest of the summer we spent some time flying kites with Eddie and listening to his advice. I later learned that besides his rules for kite flying and living he was helping us with science, not as a teacher but as a learning enabler.

     As Brooklyn kids, we had other things to do and the interest in kites waned as we went on to other games, sports and diversions.

     I’d fly kites once in awhile and do so even to this day. After all the years, the escapism and the enjoyment are still there. It is a simple pleasure, done often alone on sand or grass with the tugs on the line and the darting and soaring of the kite a conversation. Kite flying just gives me the opportunity to think, to dream, to put my face to the sky, and to remember a simpler time of friends and youth.

     When I do fly, I think back to Eddie and the kites and think how smart he was as a kite flying elevator operator. His rules and advice have stood the test of time and were so easy to learn. I was lucky to have Eddie. I was lucky to have all my friends and a time in Brooklyn.

     [end] © Copyright by Ken Thompson - 2006.