{"id":32463,"date":"2021-03-17T11:43:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T11:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=32463"},"modified":"2021-03-17T14:12:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T14:12:55","slug":"catching-up-with-joe-jennings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/catching-up-with-joe-jennings\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching up with\u2026 Joe Jennings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Joe Jennings is the stuff legends are made of: creativity, longevity, and a dash of badassery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Joe Jennings filming Jeffro Provenzano over Coolidge in a stunt for a commercial
Photo by Mark ‘Trunk’ Kirschenbaum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Joe\u2019s well known in skydiving for his Hollywood stunts, but more so, his incredible artistic shots of the late skysurfer Rob Harris, and the infamous \u201cJunk Day\u201d from his documentary, Good Stuff.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Joe Jennings by Daniel Angulo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Joe was born in St. Louis but at a young age moved to New Jersey with his family. \u201cWhen I was 8, I was living in upstate New Jersey on a farm. It was then my mom moved to California and my dad moved to New York, and us kids lived on a commune without parents for two years,\u201d Joe shared. \u201cChildhood was a pretty wild ride for me, but ultimately, us kids stayed close with our parents and with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1984 Joe and his then-girlfriend did their first Static Line jumps in Antioch, California, just outside of San Francisco. Joe explained, \u201cFor her, it was a lot of fun and she went on to make about 25 more jumps. But for me\u2026. It was life-changing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe described remembering every little detail from his first jump from the visuals, the smells, and the people. \u201cSkydive Antioch was owned and run by Bill Jones and his family which is another story in and of itself!\u201d Joe went on, \u201cI loved the physical training, learning the PLF, learning to manage malfunctions, etc. \u201cMad John\u201d was the name of our first jump instructor and I remember at the time, he was eating lunch on our ride up to 3,500\u2019. There were crumbs in his beard that flew around when the plane door flung open. But his teaching was solid and his commands at the door were firm and clear as I climbed from the Cessna 182\u2026 left hand to strut\u2026 left foot on step\u2026 sit up\u2026 right on strut, right foot\u2026 and step off\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe experience was mind-blowing! Everything felt wrong and perfect at the same time. I think I just screamed and failed to arch, but when the parachute opened I screamed again in pure joy! The exhilaration of overriding my instincts, being entirely in the moment\u2026 everything about it spoke to me and I knew skydiving would always be in my life from my first jump forward \u2013 I had found my calling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience was mind-blowing! Everything felt wrong and perfect at the same time<\/p>Joe Jennings<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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