more smoke fire and angels (book) coverage

 

smoke fire and angels

my friend mark robinson

was interviewed by wfsb yesterday

they don't say anywhere in the interview ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE BOOK (which can be purchased through the site smoke fire and angels) go to a fund for the victims and their families. SO I'M SAYING IT (again).

i read half of the book a long time ago when mark gave me an initial draft of the first few chapters. i was impressed then but i am more impressed now. mark not only tells you the story of the victims and those that shared their lives BUT he even tells you about the inner workings of a dump truck, the history (as in geology) of how avon mountain got here. he gives us background on the angels (including one doc who treated people at the scene and disappeared into the smoke never to be identified). mark did amazing reasearch.

the book is $20.00 (all inclusive). order it from the site please (if you get it in borders they keep part of the proceeds). OR if you see me anywhere, i have copies. i'll always have copies with me. just stop me and say HEY A ROSE IS A ROSE, toss one o' them thar books over ta me!

channel 3 video link

Surivor Details Avon Mountain Crash In Book
Author Tells Stories Of Victims, Rescuers
AVON, Conn. -- A survivor of the deadly Avon Mountain crash is telling his story in a new book.A dump truck slammed into traffic at the base of the mountain in 2005, killing five people.Crash survivor Mark Robinson not only lived through the crash, but also interviewed nearly 100 witnesses and victims for the book, “Smoke, Fire And Angels.”“I don’t remember a thing – it’s just a blank in my mind – and so naturally I’ve had a curiosity,” Robinson said. “I was in the front row of this event and I don’t remember a thing.”On July 29, 2005, Robinson said he was on Route 44 headed from Canton to Hartford, where he worked at ING. He said he was thinking about how he should have left an hour earlier.....

smoke fire and angels

just a couple of my previous postings

here
here
and
here

smoke fire and angels is due out

on september 24th. it's the story of the avon mountain accident and those that it effected (far and wide). my friend mark robinson wrote it AND the proceeds from this book are going to a fund for the victims and their families. from what i've read (the first six chapters), it's mighty impressive.

the holidays are fast approaching. this would be a great gift for EVERYONE on your lists. please go to his website and read his story: smoke, fire and angels

note: mark tells me the book will be available at borders. however, they're gonna get THEIR cut. soooooooooo, please consider ordering it directly from mark's website above. no one gets a cut. the proceeds go to the fund.

i've already put in my INITIAL order (there will be more).

the smoke, fire and angels facebook page

just a couple of my previous postings

here
here
and
here

catch my friend mark robinson

being interviewed by diane smith this morning.

it's about his book smoke fire and angels (all of the proceeds are going to the victims and their families) and experiences of/with/at/during the horrific avon mountain crash


image from here

he MUST serve time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please don't let his age or his looks fool you. please don't. he is NOT a nice man



Wilcox Gets 6 Years In Avon Mountain Crash
By DAVID OWENS |The Hartford Courant
HARTFORD - David R. Wilcox, the former owner of American Crushing and Recycling, was sentenced to 6 years in prison today for his role in the fiery Avon Mountain crash that claimed four lives nearly four years ago.

Six years in prison was the maximum that Wilcox, 73, faced under the terms of a plea bargain he reached with prosecutors in March. As part of that agreement, Wilcox pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree manslaughter and five counts of first-degree assault. He also pleaded no contest to insurance fraud for trying to reinstate liability insurance on his truck in the moments after the crash.

If Wilcox completes his sentence -- he's had two heart attacks and suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, his lawyer said -- he'll be on probation for three years after he gets out. Judge David P. Gold acknowledged while sentencing Wilcox that it may prove to be a life sentence.
...................

and of course the link to my friend mark's book. mark was in the accident. life starred out. he was lucky. he made it. anyway, all proceeds from mark's book will be going to a fund for the victims and their families

smoke fire and angels

my previous postings about mark robinson and/or the avon mountain crash
here
and
here
and

i had many more, but those links will do for now

i scanned the article at work

UPDATE, WILCOX WAS SENTENCED JUNE 24, 2009: read it and see it here


and emailed it to myself at work, then emailed it to me at home. the article (in pdf form) didn't come through. i'll try to scan it and email it directly home today.

at any rate, i wanted to put this out there. it's an email (i edited it a bit for this blog) i sent out to my team yesterday

Subject: Smoke Fire and Angels - PLEASE READ (thanks)
Importance: High

I did NOT intentionally exclude anyone from this distribution. Please DO forward this on. The more people that know about the forthcoming book, the better

Mark Robinson who works in our Internal Communications department is writing a book. "A book about what?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you. Mark happened to be a survivor of the horrible Avon Mountain crash almost four years ago. He's writing a book about that. It goes well beyond just the accident though.

This subject is especially close to not only me (because I am lucky enough to consider Mark a friend of mine), but to Joe as well. Joe's cousin, Chip was killed in this tragedy. Chip had a loving family including a mom and siblings, a wife and FIVE very young daughters.

Here's a copy of an article in the current issue of the Valley Press (Farmington Valley paper). I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mark is not entirely happy with everything in the article. The header under the title for one thing (Mark doesn't necessarily feel he was 'spared' while others were taken. No one knows why one is here and another is not). Mark would also immediately tell you, the police officer's name is NOT Mango. It is Rob MAGAO. There are other things Mark would like to correct but I'll leave that for another time and place.

<> the missing pdf file IS HERE (again, i'll try to get it)

Mark is someone who is very special indeed. I'm not saying that lightly either. Both Joe and I were privileged to read some of the book (I believe it was the first six chapters). I can't even tell you the amount of research that was put into it. I can't tell you how many people and police and firefighters and lawyers and survivors and families Mark has spoken with. He has talked to some of Chip's family, to the father of the man who was driving the dump truck, to the daughter of the man who was driving the bus (who also later died) to the passers by who just happened to put their OWN lives at risk by helping others who couldn't help themselves. He's even spoken to David Wilcox the owner of the UNINSURED and in the state of DISREPAIR dump truck that caused this horror.

Please stop by the website (I believe it's still under construction). There are some amazing pictures (the photographer donated his services by the way) of some who were in the accident (good pic of Joe's aunt and cousins Lorie, Bobbie and Johnny) and their angels as well as the families of some who didn't survive. If you click on one of the pictures, it will bring you to another page of the site


smoke fire and angels

click on 'inquires' and it brings you to an incredible brochure about the upcoming book

Oh, did I forget to mention the PROCEEDS FROM THE BOOK ARE BEING DONATED TO A FUND FOR THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES

(according to the website, Mark would like to have the book finished and available by July 29th, the 4th anniversary of the crash)

i've written about this before

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......