Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) began teaching sociology at the Université de Paris-X in 1966. He retired from academia in 1987 to write books and travel until his death in 2007. His many works include
Simulations and Simulacra,
America,
The Perfect Crime,
The System of Objects,
Passwords,
The Transparency of Evil,
The Spirit of Terrorism, and
Fragments, among others.
Philippe Petit spends most of his time high-wire walking. The rest of his time he divides between New York City and a hideaway in the Catskills.