the avon mountain crash AND one of the people i know who was in this horror. my friend mark robinson is writing a book about this day. i have been privileged to read the first six chapters. mark also showed me some of the photographs he's using for the book. oh, the photos i saw were NOT of the crash at all (although i've seen many of those). these photos were new ones. the ones of the survivors AND their angels. stunning portraits. (mark told me this weekend he may be having his portrait taken along with HIS personal angel. i hope that comes to fruition. he was saved by a very young man who just happened to forget his own life was on the line and dug mark out of his twisted wreck of a car smashed by concrete slabs, while a huge bus was either going to soon catch fire OR come lurching at them. oh, this young man was NOT a firefighter or a police officer or an emt. he worked at avon old farms and just happened to run out when the accident occurred). i can tell you with all honesty what i read of the book was astounding. the amount of time and effort and research mark put in was phenomenal. i can also tell you with all my heart and soul, when this book comes out (this summer) every one of us MUST buy a copy of it. buy it you say? oh, did i mention THE PROCEEDS ARE GOING TO BENEFIT THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES?
mark also doesn't forget to mention david wilcox either. lots of exhaustive research went into that path too. wilcox will be (hopefully) sentenced this summer. mark hopes to have the book ready VERY shortly thereafter. mark has shared many stories with me (although he still doesn't remember the accident itself at all) from the lives saved and the lives lost that day, to what the familes and victims have gone through to meeting up with mr naafi's father last week when they were at the courthouse in hartford being informed wilcox was going to plead (instead of trial).
mark makes me cry a LOT by the way
so again, when this book SMOKE, FIRE & ANGELS comes out, i will be forcing everyone i know to buy a copy
Crash Survivor Hopes His Book Can Help Promote Healing
By SHAWN R. BEALS | The Hartford Courant
The heartbreaking saga of the 2005 Avon Mountain crash drew plenty of attention Monday after David Wilcox, 73, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault charges.
Behind the scenes, however, the story's human side is getting much more consideration.
The crash is the subject of a book by survivor Mark Robinson, a Canton resident who was severely injured in the crash. The book is called "Smoke, fire & angels," and he's hoping to have it completed in time for the fourth anniversary of the crash in July.
"I just may have a 175-page statement to put on Judge [David P.] Gold's desk in June," Robinson said.
Wilcox is scheduled to be sentenced June 24, and victims will have the opportunity to make a statement in court that day or submit one to the judge.
Robinson was waiting at a traffic light on his way to work in Hartford when the dump truck owned by Wilcox and his company, American Crushing & Recycling, slammed into traffic after its brakes failed as it traveled westbound down the hill......
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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2 comments:
i knew mark years ago; i went numb when i learned he was hurt in the avon mountain crash. i'm not at all surprised to read that he's writing a book about the accident, or that he's donating the profits to the victims' families. i haven't been able to speak to mark for a long time. circumstances change, unforeseen events occur that put people on different and unexpected paths. mark's resilience gives me hope that we can all move forward after suffering a debilitating blow, whether caused by a complete stranger or someone we once loved.
if you'd like me to put you in touch with mark, click 'view my complete profile' at the upper right corner of the blog. you'll then see 'email' on the left. if you like i can give him your email address. if not, that is fine as well
mark IS doing well now. he has worked very hard on this book. he wants to tell THE WHOLE story and the story of those that were victims and those that were their angels. i cry every time he tells me something about that day or what that day caused.
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