Submitted photo
Ray Kohn stands next to the General Lee in his workshop.

Raymond Kohn was almost 3 years old when he first saw “The Dukes of Hazzard” on television. It quickly became an obsession. He loved watching troublemakers Bo and Luke Duke race around town, outwitting Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane and Commissioner Boss Hogg. He became mesmerized by the soaring jumps of the Dukes’ bright orange 1969 Dodge Charger — the General Lee. He dreamed of making those jumps one day.

And for nearly two decades, he’s been living his dream.

Kohn, 47, was born in Richmond, Virginia, but grew up in Leavittsburg, and now lives in Champion with his wife, Tina; daughter, Tiffany; and son, Ryan. He operates his stunt company, Northeast Ohio Dukes, out of Warren.

As a stunt driver, he performs around the country, putting on the “Hazzard County Stunt Show,” a 90-minute, action-packed production, complete with car chases, fights and explosions, and ending with the high-flying spectacle of a Kohn-built General Lee taking to the air.

Back in June, Kohn went viral when he and his stunt team jumped a water fountain in the downtown square of Somerset, Kentucky. According to Kohn, 47,000 spectators witnessed the event, and, “to add a little more pressure, John Schneider was there.” Schneider played Bo Duke in the television series, and Kohn said it was “exciting and nerve-wracking” to jump the General Lee in front of one of his childhood heroes.

To turn a car from a late ’70s, early ’80s TV show into a social media sensation didn’t happen overnight, however. Kohn worked for years to get to where he’s at, beginning in his early 20s.

In 1998, Kohn did what so many others don’t and started forging dreams into realities. Along with his friend, Rob Roushey, he began building his own General Lee. The pair finally completed it in late-September 2004. (Kohn still builds his own General Lees — his team doesn’t use real Dodge Chargers for their jumps. He and his crew of eight rebuild older cars to resemble the iconic one for use in the shows.)

In June 2005, MTV invited him and his crew to display his General Lee to promote “The Dukes of Hazzard” — the movie starring Jessica Simpson, Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott. Kohn said, “there was a stuntman jumping an unsalvageable Charger,” and thought he would like to do that.

“I researched what would be involved, and in 2007, we did our first jump at Yankee Lake Truck Night,” he said. “From that single jump of the General Lee, Northeast Ohio Dukes grew to a full-sized stunt show.”

Living his childhood dreams hasn’t been without its struggles, though. In 2015, Kohn’s jumping career was in jeopardy.

He said the first sign that something was wrong was pain in his elbow. Then, his blood pressure rose; he gained a ton of weight — “over one hundred pounds” — and his “shoe size went from size 10 to 12.” He had to get a special extra-large helmet — his traditional helmet no longer fit because his head had grown.

He had several surgeries and received cortisone shots to try to alleviate the pain, all to no avail. He went several years without definitive answers.

Then, “in 2022, a dermatologist at Brodell Dermatology spotted some signs of possible acromegaly,” Kohn explained, and referred him to a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

According to clevelandclinic.org, “acromegaly is a rare medical condition that happens when you have high levels of growth hormone (GH) in your body.” Tumors on the pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain, can produce excess growth hormone.

The symptoms of acromegaly “are extra-slow in showing up,” Kohn explained. He said people “who were around all the time did not notice the changes.” However, when he looked at videos of previous stunts, he said, “I couldn’t get over how much I had changed.”

Brain surgery was required for treatment. After meeting with the neurosurgeon, Kohn said he agreed to it only after the surgeon said he could still jump when it was over.

In June 2023, Kohn underwent surgery and extensive rehabilitation. When he finished, he was ready to get back into the General Lee.

By April 2024, Kohn was headed to Moncton, Canada, to do the “first international jump of any General Lee.”

“I had to get back,” Kohn said. “I had to prove to myself that I could still jump.”

It was at this event that the “Canada Curse” began.

According to Kohn, with a good car jump, the car is supposed to land at an angle, the nose tilted down.

“At Moncton, the car landed flat,” Kohn explained. “I jumped three times, and it landed flat each time.”

He suffered severe whiplash and a concussion.

“I was out of commission for several months,” he lamented.

In August 2024, however, he was back jumping again. He set a record by jumping 30 feet high and a distance of 217 feet at the MoPar Nationals, an event in Hebron.

“I hold the record for the longest jump of a General Lee in front of a live audience,” Kohn said.

Despite the troubles, he wants to keep on jumping as long as he can. He said his career has been rewarding. He smiled, saying, “Little kids come up to me and want to talk to me and get my autograph.”

Kohn said his daughter would like to jump.

“I am holding off on that,” he said. “I would flip out watching her!”

Kohn loves his action-packed career but acknowledged his career might be difficult for his wife.

“She is battle hardened, but I caught her eye when I finished the jump in Somerset, and she was crying,” he noted. “I don’t know if it was excitement or worry.”

When asked if he’s ever scared, he answered, “It’s okay to be scared; it’s about facing your fears. If you can accept that you are scared, you can use it to work alongside the fear as a tool.”

He chuckled as he added, “Every time I sit down in the car, I think, ‘This is it; this is the last one.'” As soon as he lands, however, he thinks, “I want to do it again!”