for a moment, remember

this from Dan

The only sign that the accident ever happened at all was some Sheriff’s line yellow tape in the snow by the side of the road. This is a cold, inhospitable place to be, and it seems like a pretty awful place to be left to die. But that’s what happened here a couple of nights ago, and standing here now, the word that comes to mind is ‘fringe.’

I didn’t know Dale Connors, but I’m sad that he died. He was killed in a hit and run accident earlier this week less than 2 miles from the Planet Bike office where Femrite Drive passes under Interstate 90. It’s a bad stretch of road to ride on a bike, and that’s just what Connors was doing Tuesday night at about 7:30. The Dane County Sheriff’s Department speculates that Connors was struck from behind as he pedaled east under the overpasses, was found lying in the road by another motorist, and later died from his injuries at the University of Wisconsin Hospital.

The case is still under investigation, but the Wisconsin State Journal has reported that speed and alcohol appear to be factors in the crash. The driver later turned herself in.

From what I’ve read, Connors was a free spirited, warm hearted fringe dweller. Some reports have listed him as, homeless. I’ve also read he lived out in the woods where he felt safe in a root cellar-type shanty. He was a former Oscar Meyer employee who got around by bike, and did not wear a helmet.

The area where he was hit was one of those fringe areas of our society, that “in-between” area at the edge of town populated by industrial parks, dark narrow roads and overgrown wooded areas. This is where Dale Connors existed, away from the entrapments of the city. A forgotten person, killed in a forgotten area. But he will not be forgotten by those who loved him. And I will not forget his death.

dp

take care everybody, take care- the kittens