Show Notes
Welcome to Late Talks on Air – episode 121!
Typically, my work requires me to read a lot of non-fiction… reports, studies, and mounds and mounds of research. Such demands leave little time or energy for fiction – or more exciting non-fiction, at least!
But have you ever had an unsuspecting book sneak up on you – and take your senses and imagination by surprise? This week – I spoke with an author whose book brought the stuff of fiction, yet presented reality in a way that only the experiences of risk and adventure could.
Aaron Crippen is a tank – or a cat with well over nine lives. His story immediately brought to mind visions of Fall Guy’s Colt Seavers (played by Lee Majors) hanging from a moving helicopter over a deep ravine. Aaron is the real thing.
When not being dragged by them, he rides horses (standing up, of course, alongside his lovely wife, Monnya). He jumps out of ridiculous heights toward targets I might not even see – and would most likely miss. But his heart? It stays home with something he’s dreamt about, built and now gets to enjoy.
To you, my weary listener, I say, tune in. Aaron’s story will energize your outlook, challenge your fears, and inspire new possibilities.
Enjoy the show!
PS – The video version of this episode will go live shortly!
About this week’s guest, Aaron Crippen
Aaron Crippen is a professional stuntman, coordinator and rigger whose career has taken him from Hollywood blockbusters to international productions. A former U.S. Army Airborne infantry soldier, his life has been defined by high risks, hard falls, and relentless resilience. With more than 150 projects across five countries – and a family at the centre of it all – Aaron shares his most daring role yet: telling the story behind the stunts.
About the Book:
Fifteen years ago, Aaron Crippen was sitting in a freezing truck, holding a spiral notebook as if it might be the only thing that could save him. He had no idea he was beginning a letter his sons wouldn’t read for decades—long before he ever knew their names.
What started as survival scribbles slowly became a breadcrumb trail—a map back to himself. And somewhere, in the middle of all that ink, pain, and duct-tape courage, Aaron realized something.
People wait too long to tell the stories that matter.
Aaron’s lost brothers, friends, and mentors—good men who never said the things they needed to say while they were here. At their funerals, he learned pieces of them he wished he’d known when they were alive. He didn’t want that for his boys or himself.
So, Aaron documented it all—the messy parts, the scared parts, the places he fell hard, and the places he got up louder. He wants his sons to know the man behind their dad. He wants them to know that falling isn’t failure—it’s a direction.
Every crash taught Aaron something worth passing on. Every heartbreak widened the space he had for love. Every faceplant taught him how to rise with a little more grace and a little more grit. Love at First Fall isn’t merely a highlight reel of Aaron’s life. It’s his way of putting a flashlight in his sons’ hands for the nights when life goes dark.