William Curry
William Curry
Monday, April 5, 2010
Age: 36
Location:
C Street and Tudor
Anchorage , AK
United States
William Curry was riding home just after midnight when he was hit and killed by Melinda Talaro who passed him too close. Friends installed a ghost bike for him which was removed quickly by the City. His friends reinstalled the ghost bike a few weeks later.
According to the Anchorage Daily News Using his iPhone, the 36-year-old Curry, mapped his progress as he
cycled across the city each day. To his job at GCI in South Anchorage. This site helped his friends find him that night, and is being used by the police to research the crash.
From Alaska on line:
The Anchorage Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage gathered to
memorialize William E. Curry Jr. Friday. Dozens of bicyclists turned out
to honor 36 year old Curry who was killed April 5th in midtown while
riding his bike. Mr. Curry was most recently employed as a support
technician for GCI, he was a freemason, was involved with the polar
bear plunge for the Special Olympics. Curry loved technology, theater
arts, music, playing games and riding bicycles.The members of BCA
remembered their friend by riding from his place of employment to the
scene of the accident today.
State removes 'ghost bike' tribute to cyclist
By KYLE HOPKINS
(04/13/11 20:08:56)
Sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning, the ghost bike vanished. Sometime soon another one may take its place.
In the week following 36-year-old bicyclist Wil Curry's death in a
collision with a Toyota Camry at Tudor Road and C Street, a mystery
memorial appeared at the busy Midtown intersection. Called a "ghost
bike," the all-white road bicycle was chained to a metal traffic light
and draped in flowers.
Like a 21-gun salute for cyclists and a reminder for drivers to use
caution, similar monuments appear all over whenever a bicyclist is
killed. A website, www.ghostbikes.org, maps the tributes in 22 countries and teaches friends and family how to make their own.
But the Alaska Department of Transportation removed the Anchorage
ghost bike this week, calling the tribute a potential safety hazard.
"We felt an obligation to go out and remove that obstacle," said Transportation Department spokesman Rick Feller.
The bicycle is now in a state maintenance garage in Anchorage -- the
same place the state takes illegal campaign signs during election season
-- waiting for someone to claim it, he said.
"At worst it can be an object that, if there's an accident at that
intersection, can present another item that flies through a window or
somehow otherwise injures people," Feller said of the state laws against
placing things in public rights of way.
Still, the busy Midtown crossing where Curry died may not be bare for long.
A group dedicated to improving bicycle safety in the city, Bicycle
Commuters of Anchorage, has been in talks with the department to place
another ghost bike in the area. One that the state won't take away.
While state law allows for roadside memorials under certain conditions, Feller wasn't making any promises Tuesday.
"I don't think it has been ruled out or ruled against at this point of time," he said.
Curry was hit just after midnight on April 5 while biking to his
girlfriend's house, his roommate has said. Police have not charged the
driver of the Camry, Melinda Talaro, who was headed south on C Street
and making a right turn onto Tudor, said police spokeswoman Marlene
Lammers.
The accident is still under investigation. A traffic fatality
investigator is still receiving reports from police officers who
responded to the crash, Lammers said.
Meantime, some of Curry's friends said they don't know who put the
first ghost bike at the intersection but they were sad to see it gone on
Tuesday.
Curry's girlfriend, Allison Theriault, initially heard it had been stolen rather than confiscated.
"It was such a beautiful memorial to a much loved man, and to
discover it stolen just leaves me completely at a loss for words," she
wrote in an email.
The Anchorage bicycle commuters group plans to hold a 1.5-mile
memorial bike ride at about 5:30 p.m. Friday from Curry's workplace at
GCI to the intersection where he died.
"We're expecting his family to attend and so we will have a small,
quiet memorial. We will put the (new) ghost bike up and have a moment of
silence," said president Brian Litmans.
On Tuesday afternoon, half a dozen drying bouquets surrounded the
light post at the northeast corner of the intersection. There was a
candle. A poem. A broken lock.
Bicycle commuter Danny Templeton, cycling south along C Street,
stopped his black Specialized Hardrock in the dirt and waited for the
light. Templeton works in the Frontier Building a couple of blocks away
and commutes every day from Jewel Lake.
Cars flooded by along Tudor Road.
"My wife worries about me all the time. Especially in winter,"
Templeton said. Just that morning a white pickup nearly hit him at an
intersection where the cyclist had the signal to cross, he said.
"I had my light going here. I had my vest. Red helmet. I feel pretty
visible," Templeton said, gesturing to the lamp strapped to his helmet
and his orange-and-yellow safety vest.
He jabbed the round signal button on the light post.
Someone had taped a picture of Curry to the metal below. Lower still
was a note written in black marker, telling the day Curry died. "Please
ride safe," it said.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Age: 36
Location:
C Street and Tudor
Anchorage , AK
United States
William Curry was riding home just after midnight when he was hit and killed by Melinda Talaro who passed him too close. Friends installed a ghost bike for him which was removed quickly by the City. His friends reinstalled the ghost bike a few weeks later.
According to the Anchorage Daily News Using his iPhone, the 36-year-old Curry, mapped his progress as he
cycled across the city each day. To his job at GCI in South Anchorage. This site helped his friends find him that night, and is being used by the police to research the crash.
From Alaska on line:
The Anchorage Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage gathered to
memorialize William E. Curry Jr. Friday. Dozens of bicyclists turned out
to honor 36 year old Curry who was killed April 5th in midtown while
riding his bike. Mr. Curry was most recently employed as a support
technician for GCI, he was a freemason, was involved with the polar
bear plunge for the Special Olympics. Curry loved technology, theater
arts, music, playing games and riding bicycles.The members of BCA
remembered their friend by riding from his place of employment to the
scene of the accident today.
State removes 'ghost bike' tribute to cyclist
By KYLE HOPKINS
(04/13/11 20:08:56)
Sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning, the ghost bike vanished. Sometime soon another one may take its place.
In the week following 36-year-old bicyclist Wil Curry's death in a
collision with a Toyota Camry at Tudor Road and C Street, a mystery
memorial appeared at the busy Midtown intersection. Called a "ghost
bike," the all-white road bicycle was chained to a metal traffic light
and draped in flowers.
Like a 21-gun salute for cyclists and a reminder for drivers to use
caution, similar monuments appear all over whenever a bicyclist is
killed. A website, www.ghostbikes.org, maps the tributes in 22 countries and teaches friends and family how to make their own.
But the Alaska Department of Transportation removed the Anchorage
ghost bike this week, calling the tribute a potential safety hazard.
"We felt an obligation to go out and remove that obstacle," said Transportation Department spokesman Rick Feller.
The bicycle is now in a state maintenance garage in Anchorage -- the
same place the state takes illegal campaign signs during election season
-- waiting for someone to claim it, he said.
"At worst it can be an object that, if there's an accident at that
intersection, can present another item that flies through a window or
somehow otherwise injures people," Feller said of the state laws against
placing things in public rights of way.
Still, the busy Midtown crossing where Curry died may not be bare for long.
A group dedicated to improving bicycle safety in the city, Bicycle
Commuters of Anchorage, has been in talks with the department to place
another ghost bike in the area. One that the state won't take away.
While state law allows for roadside memorials under certain conditions, Feller wasn't making any promises Tuesday.
"I don't think it has been ruled out or ruled against at this point of time," he said.
Curry was hit just after midnight on April 5 while biking to his
girlfriend's house, his roommate has said. Police have not charged the
driver of the Camry, Melinda Talaro, who was headed south on C Street
and making a right turn onto Tudor, said police spokeswoman Marlene
Lammers.
The accident is still under investigation. A traffic fatality
investigator is still receiving reports from police officers who
responded to the crash, Lammers said.
Meantime, some of Curry's friends said they don't know who put the
first ghost bike at the intersection but they were sad to see it gone on
Tuesday.
Curry's girlfriend, Allison Theriault, initially heard it had been stolen rather than confiscated.
"It was such a beautiful memorial to a much loved man, and to
discover it stolen just leaves me completely at a loss for words," she
wrote in an email.
The Anchorage bicycle commuters group plans to hold a 1.5-mile
memorial bike ride at about 5:30 p.m. Friday from Curry's workplace at
GCI to the intersection where he died.
"We're expecting his family to attend and so we will have a small,
quiet memorial. We will put the (new) ghost bike up and have a moment of
silence," said president Brian Litmans.
On Tuesday afternoon, half a dozen drying bouquets surrounded the
light post at the northeast corner of the intersection. There was a
candle. A poem. A broken lock.
Bicycle commuter Danny Templeton, cycling south along C Street,
stopped his black Specialized Hardrock in the dirt and waited for the
light. Templeton works in the Frontier Building a couple of blocks away
and commutes every day from Jewel Lake.
Cars flooded by along Tudor Road.
"My wife worries about me all the time. Especially in winter,"
Templeton said. Just that morning a white pickup nearly hit him at an
intersection where the cyclist had the signal to cross, he said.
"I had my light going here. I had my vest. Red helmet. I feel pretty
visible," Templeton said, gesturing to the lamp strapped to his helmet
and his orange-and-yellow safety vest.
He jabbed the round signal button on the light post.
Someone had taped a picture of Curry to the metal below. Lower still
was a note written in black marker, telling the day Curry died. "Please
ride safe," it said.