Steven Groves
My father-in-law Steven Groves died today of injuries he suffered when his bicycle was hit by a car.
Steve and I did not always agree politically, be we shared a lot of the same eclecticism in our interests. I seldom found anything, no matter how arcane, that I found interesting that Steve did not as well (even if we might come to different conclusions about it). Steve had a scientist's passion for fact-based analysis, and was one of the very few people I have ever met truly willing to change his stance on an issue as he came to understand it better. My enduring memory of Steve is of him listening and questioning. He was always interested in learning more about... whatever it was that we were talking about. I can't tell you how many of my best posts on this blog evolved from a discussion I had with Steve.
Of all the people I have ever know who were actively interested in political / economic / social issues, Steve was by far the most consistent in matching his behaviors to his beliefs. A lifelong environmentalist, Steve was surely one of the few who eschewed dryers for clotheslines, power mowers for reel mowers, and cars for his bicycle. Considering this last item, one could say he died for his beliefs.
Blogging will be light this week, as my wife is back home with her family and I am playing single parent. I was working on a post last weekend in honor of my 44th birthday, to reflect on the fact that contrary to conventional wisdom that people's beliefs become pretty set with age, mine have migrated pretty far since I was 22. I will still get to this post in time.
Ryan Cupples:
Condolences from someone you don't know; the loss of someone who is willing to objectively look at debates in which they hold an opinion should be mourned by all.
March 28, 2006, 1:49 amCrystal:
So terribly sorry for your loss.
March 28, 2006, 1:53 amGene Wright:
My condolences on your loss.
March 28, 2006, 4:57 amJay:
So sorry to hear the news. Looking back to when I biked regularly, sometimes I wonder how I never got hit, given how unfriendly the roads and driver behaviors can be to bicycles. He sounds like a good man.
I keep a calendar of blogger birthdays and put up "happy birthday" posts, but it looks like I don't have yours on record. I'll have to add it when I see when it is. Which apparently won't be too far from mine, on the 3rd, except I have a year on you.
March 28, 2006, 6:28 amBobH:
My sympathies and best wishes to your family.
March 28, 2006, 6:34 amTC:
It for sure sucks when you hear of a rather tragic accident and then to learn later that it involved somebody you know but don't!
Well as a green goofie at least he practiced what he preached. I mean such will all reapect toward him. MOST we all know don't "live it".
I too am sorry for what much be your loss and probably ours also. At some level I'm sure.
Agan the most sinceere condolences to you and your family.
March 28, 2006, 7:59 amCraig L:
I offer my condolences, and please pass them on to your wife and family.
March 28, 2006, 11:09 amRonInAz:
My condolences for your loss.
March 28, 2006, 2:10 pmJonathan:
I'm sorry. I wish you and your family all the best.
March 28, 2006, 7:26 pmChris Yeh:
My condolences on this tragedy, Warren. It sounds like the two of you had a wonderful relationship, and thank goodness, had left nothing unsaid.
March 28, 2006, 11:19 pmElizabeth:
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family --
March 29, 2006, 3:34 amIrvin Peckham:
I was thinking of Steve this morning and feeling quite terrible about his accident. And so I googled his name, just checking on how his life was recorded on the internet, and I came across your blog. He was one of the best people I knew--I have used him as a model for my own life. Although I do not have the strength of his convinctions, my convictions lie in his direction. If I can in anyway approach his ethical strength, well . . . let's just say he has been one of my inspirations, although I don't know him as well as you do. You are very lucky to have had him as a father-in-law.
I am married to Sarah Peckham (nee Groves). Sarah is Ted and Dorothy Groves' daughter. The two Groves families grew up within a few blocks of each other in Madison.
We stayed with Steve and Ann a couple of times in Lexington. Steve was everything you said he was, one of the people I will remember as long as I live. Heartfelt regrets. I still can't believe it. I don't know whether you mentioned it to people who read your blog--but he was 72 and still riding his bike to work every day and in great health, his mind as sharp as a whistle.
March 31, 2006, 5:01 am