If you have been reading comments to my previous post about Death on the Van Wyck then you know that there have been several comments to that article and some discussion going on between friends and family of the gentleman killed in a motorcycle accident on New York City's Van Wyck Expressway last Sunday afternoon/evening, June 14, 2009. In addition to those comments I have been exchanging emails and have had telephone conversations with the man’s family. As a result the nameless, faceless, and anonymous is beginning to become identified. This is what I have learned.
The man was 44 year old Ken Ragbir of the Bronx, an only child. He was apparently on his way home after visiting his father.
Other than a four line non-descript report about the accident in the New York Daily News (I have not been able to locate it in the on-line edition and have not seen the print edition) there has been no news coverage of the accident that I am aware of and my internet searches have not returned any helpful results other than my own blog. Apparently the New York Times did not see the story as news fit to print. Perhaps since Ken was not a politician, entertainment sensation, sport’s star, banker, lawyer, crime boss or the family member of such the New York Media does not see this accident and his death worth noting. Or perhaps because the accident occurred on the outskirts of one of the outer boroughs rather than in Manhattan they didn’t think it worth mentioning.
Because Ken’s family has no other firsthand connection to the accident and somehow discovered my blog post about it they have turned to me for information from one of the last people to see Ken, and I am obliging them. I plan and hope to meet with Ken’s mother and perhaps other family members and friends within the next couple of weeks to help them, and me, close the circle.
If you happened to witness this accident and could share what you saw, please leave a comment. Or you may respond to my email and I will post your anonymous comment and share the information with Ken’s family.
I will let you know what more I learn about Ken and the accident as I learn it. I am certain this will not be the last post about the accident or about Ken.
SUMMIT TO SHORE: Theologically and philosophically informed eclectic ruminations on everything between summit to shore, especially cycling, hiking and backpacking, kayaking, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology, politics, culture, travel, poetry, and creative writing by John Edward Harris, a progressive Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Minister of the Word and Sacrament.
2 comments:
ken was a very nice guy and will be miss.chris ally in pa
I never knew the gentleman, but I saw the accident on my way home after it had apparently happened and I could only say a silent prayer for the gentleman lying there and his family who was expecting home that evening.
It just emphasises how fragile life is that indeed tomorrow is not promised.
I continue to pray for his family. I was and continue to be sorrowful about the unexpectedness of this trajedy.
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