Here is the full text of the message left by one of the friends of Dennis Crowley.
Name: | Christine Reed |
Location: | Pasadena CA |
Message: | Dennis was a quintessential Pasadena guy – passionate about history, technology, learning, art, architecture, and most of all; innovation and transportation. A fan of Steampunk, Art Center, bikes of all kinds, Saab Sonnets, (2 AND 4 wheeled AND flying craft of ALL kinds), Dennis was quite an aficionado of both obscure and late breaking developments; he was a visionary tinkerer or an inspiring pro-activist. His enthusiasm was infectious and he was not an exclusive thinker when it came to transportation, as he appreciated creative engineering and design solutions of all kinds. Even as he visited family in the midwest, he found himself enthralled with the antique tractors and other machinery at an Amish Farm show. After I learned a little about Horace Dobbins’ Cycleway of 1892, and talked with him at a Rose Bowl Fireworks party, a man who, lo and behold, not only shared this fascination of a cycleway for commuters but had really worked for it... I just listened with delight to all the amazing things he’d done pursuing it. Helping improve the biking patterns around the Rose Bowl, and effected the momentary transformation of a CA!!! highway, (the largest historic district in the US then), into a pedestrian causeway – what a fundamentally ground shaking event!!! The Cycleway remains a fantastic concept that many have supported in very instrumental ways, and perhaps its time truly HAS finally come, as he just wrote to me back in May of his plans to renew the effort once again, despite his disappointment about London: “Well it looks like London will get a cycleway network before the Pasadena - LA Corridor gets the first Cycleway completed - even after 108 years.“ As I review all the emails we’ve exchanged, I’m reminded how he helped friends evacuate the Sierra Madre fire, and his passion for the repurposing of an Armory building in the Arroyo that would be a wonderful museum-art space. He was working now to rekindle a SoCal Airshow, as per the 100 year anniversary to commemorate the Dominguez Hills Air Show of 1910. Dennis was a sweet, kind, bright, thoughtful, both curious and knowledgeable transportation-enthusiast that we all will miss greatly! I hope the dreams and visions many of us shared with him maintain momentum and become reality, and that Dennis’ infectious enthusiasm, knowledge and intent for these various initiatives continues to build within the community. I am very sad he didn’t make it to the Moto GP races at Laguna Seca, where his recently completed Ducati project had earned him an invitation to Ducati’s VIP tent. He was so excited about either going with his brand new lady-friend or else camping with the guys on one of the turns. If he can, I’ll bet he’ll be flying around Laguna Seca this weekend. |