Redmond-based Rain City Cinema recently announced that it is releasing local filmmaker Paul Gorman’s documentary, “Ride The Sky,” about skydiver Joan Carson, who was a cheerleader at Redmond High School (RHS) during the late 1960s.
“Ride The Sky” makes its pay-per-view Internet debut on Dec. 1 at www.raincitycinema.com.With wanderlust in her blood and skydiving the love of her life, Carson pursued her passion at drop zones across the West. She finally settled in Kalispell, Mont. and was one of the founders of Lost Prairie Skydive Center — now home to one of the top five skydiving boogies in the world.
Carson passed away in a skydiving mishap shortly after Lost Prairie Skydive Center opened. She was 30 years old at the time. The cause of her double malfunction remains a mystery.“‘Ride The Sky’ captures the culture of skydiving in the ‘70s as it retraces Joan’s skydiving footsteps, beginning in Montana and working backward, digging into her past and the events that motivated her,” said Gorman.
Gorman, who knew Carson at RHS, spent time with her while she was living in San Francisco. While there, he dreamt that she had a fatal skydiving mishap. He was deeply affected years later at the news of her passing. “Her fatality shocked me. She was one of my first classmates to depart, and it was one of those events that stays with you the rest of your life,” said Gorman.
Gorman wanted to understand the meaning of his dream and what drove Carson to continue skydiving after suffering two serious accidents.
“I was curious as to the reason she took the risks she did and why she would continue doing something that caused her so much pain,” he said.
It was after learning that while in her 20s, Carson and several of her skydiving friends had built their own airfield, hangar, and skydive center in the Montana wilderness, that Gorman was hooked.
“I was impressed with her accomplishments and adventurous spirit. The fact that Joan would follow her passion from the safety of the suburbs of Redmond to the sophistication of San Francisco, and then to the wilderness in Montana — where she built her own airport and skydive center — convinced me that her story was bigger than my own personal interest and had universal appeal. It was then that I decided to make a film about her,” said Gorman.He said “Ride the Sky” appeals to a broad range of ages and both sexes equally.
“It’s one of those films that has broad appeal because we admire people who live out their dream and Joan did,” Gorman said.
A Montana newspaper article about the film was instrumental in bringing together a long lost member of the Carson with family members she had never known.
