Grade: A-

Extreme sports are big --- ESPN's "X Games" have become the Generation X Olympics --- but Michael McKeller of Atlanta takes extreme to the extreme.

Wheelchair-bound by childhood muscle afflictions and a surgery that left him barely able to use his arms and legs, McKeller went through physical therapy until he could do what most people can do. He drives, works on a computer and maintains his own Web site (www.extrememike.com). But McKeller, 34, also does what a lot of people don't do. He's gone shark fishing, scuba diving and ridden in a stunt plane --- ventures that have earned him the nickname "Extreme Mike," the title of tonight's spirited half-hour on GPTV. (McKeller, as executive producer, is shopping the show as a weekly series.)

"Hey, if I can do it, you can do it," McKeller says tonight before sky diving from 13,000 feet.

"Extreme Mike" is a kind of empowering manifesto for anyone who has let fear overwhelm him. McKeller, who grew up in Athens and lives in Buckhead (he earned a finance degree from the University of Georgia in 1987), is that manifesto's no-excuses role model, a part he plays with a likable combination of wit and grit.

Everything is done one step at a time. We see him phone a Thomaston sky-diving outfit to see if it can handle someone in a wheelchair ("So you guys aren't just going to throw me out of a plane," we hear him say); drive to the drop site in his specially equipped van; get rigged by an instructor who'll jump in tandem with him. ("Is there any superstitious thing you don't say?" someone asks the instructor before the jump, to which McKeller chimes, "Break a leg.")

Then McKeller is up and out of the plane before we know it --- free falling at 120 miles per hour, all of it beautifully filmed by head cams, while relatives wait anxiously below.

"I was very nervous about it, to the point of tears even," says his sister Jennifer. "(But) at no point did I ever consider trying to stop him. If he's got his mind on something, that's what he's doing."

"Extreme Mike" sometimes slips into the how-to jargon of positive thinking ("I've developed a way of breaking down obstacles into components. Then I work on each of those elements independently. . . ."). And the soundtrack plays like what you might hear on hold with your insurance agent.

But, like McKeller himself, the show overcomes these shortcomings with a zest that makes for a uniquely inspiring half-hour.

Contact Information:

Michael McKeller - mike@extrememike.com

Information Requests - info@extrememike.com 

or Snail Mail us at:
Extreme Mike Enterprises
P.O. Box 421756
Atlanta, GA  30342-1756

Back To Press Page

About Mike   The Series   The Adventures   Our Guestbook
Testimonials    Public Speaking    Links   HOME