James G. “Jimmy” Calhoun
The Wing Walking Stuntman
Researched by Stacy Wright
There is a huge amount of public information about Jimmy Calhoun, who is buried in Pine Crest Cemetery, but almost all of it is connected to his death. The circumstances that led to his fateful, and heavily reported, demise are not nearly so available, but would likely be interesting.
On Sunday afternoon, April 15, 1926, before a crowd of almost 20,000 assembled at Lakewood Amusement Park, the parachute exhibition that Calhoun had performed many times before went fatally wrong. In view of the entire crowd, which included his wife of one year, he came out of his harness and plunged the final 400 feet into the lake, where he had expected to land safely. He died immediately of a concussion.
The tragic jump was the third and final jump at Lakewood for Calhoun, and occurred at the first Atlanta area food merchandisers trade show, which extended over five days and featured food and musical events. The daredevil act had been heavily promoted in the local papers, and it was the highlight of the intermission of the day’s music presentations. The jump was featured, hyped-up actually, as “a race between the parachutist and the airplane to the ground”, according to the news item in the Atlanta Constitution. As soon as Calhoun was away, the pilot of the plane, Capt. A. B. McMullen would dive under power to try to land before Jimmy could splash into the lake. It’s possible that the competitive aspect of the stunt caused a hurried effort to get out of the harness just as the parachutist hits the lake. Much speculation was reported, but no definitive reason for the accident was settled. The result was made more tragic because Calhoun’s young wife was witness to the entire event, reportedly passing out as she saw her husband splash into the lake at such a speed that he was killed instantly.
There is not much information about how Jimmy Calhoun became a stunt parachutist, except that it followed an enlistment in the U S military, and he had been performing daredevil acts for five years. He was considered at the top of the profession, and had made 126 jumps before the fatal one. Calhoun grew up in Tarrytown, GA, where his father was the Marshall. Tragedy befell the elder Calhoun also, as he was shot and killed by a man who had recently been released from a mental institution. Sometime after that sad encounter, his widow moved to Savannah with Jimmy and his brother Charles, and that remained her home, although she is buried in Pine Crest beside her son.
Newspaper reports of the following week detailed funeral plans in Vidalia. His mother’s family, the Brooks, had a plot in Pine Crest, so it seems obvious that they offered one of the gravesites for her son. Calhoun’s family was friendly with a local pastor, and he conducted the services. Five years later, Mrs. Elizabeth Calhoun, Jimmy’s mother, passed away and was buried beside him.
There are still descendants here of the Calhoun family from the Tarrytown area, and the Brooks family. Maybe some of the family lore and oral history of one of the families will add more detail to this interesting event. For a short period, Jimmy Calhoun was famous in this State, and now he is a part of the Pine Crest history.
Web Link to Photo: https://www.newspapers.com/image/398128490/?terms=James%20G%20Calhoun%20parachute&match=1
