Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

Media in Texas and Alaska profiled our favorite bicyclist, Stan Oldak and preserved his memory after a hit and run accident outside Columbus, TX caused his death earlier this month.

Stan visited southeast Alaska several times a year to provide dental treatment to Inuit children there. You can imagine it wasn’t the easiest thing to hop on a plane from New York and fly clear across the continent to Alaska for a two week stay in native villages up and down the coast. But Stan did it because it was a new adventure and because he felt it was the right thing to do. As I wrote earlier, while visiting me here in Seattle after one of his early Alaska tours he told me that many of his patients had received no dental care in their lives and faced extreme medical conditions exacerbated by their lack of treatment. I’m sure this fired Stan’s dedication to this work even more intensely.

This is what the Juneau Empire’s Korry Keeker had to say about Stan (thanks to Charles Bingham for providing the links):

On a clear day from his dental office at the Kake Health Center, Dr. Stan Oldak would gaze across Chatham Strait to Baranof Island. On his left was Keku Strait and Kuiu Island. To his right, lay Frederick Sound.

It was a long way from his other pediatric practice in the heart of Manhattan.

“Once he finished for the day, he would call his friends in New York,” said Mary Vincent, a physician assistant in Kake. “And I heard him say once, ‘You know, this is the most beautiful view from a dental office of anywhere in the world.’”

Oldak began visiting Southeast Alaska in 2001 for eight weeks of the year as part of the specialty pediatric dental program that the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium runs in conjunction with Denali KidCare.

He was the only dentist that many of the children in Kake, Hoonah and Yakutat have ever known. They won’t be seeing him again.

The little joke in this passage was Stan “all over:”

“I tell people back home that this is one of the nicest things that’s happened to me in my career as a pediatric dentist,” Oldak told the Juneau Empire in May 2004.

“The only difference that I’ve found is that in New York the kids go ‘ow’ and in Hoonah the kids go ‘owee,’” he said.

Stan’s boss in Alaska captured more of Stan’s commitment to his Alaska work:

“He felt a social responsibility, and he knew what we were doing,” said Tom Bornstein, the director of SEARHC’s dental services department. “He bought into improving access to care for kids. And I think that part of it also was that he enjoyed travel and the adventure of it.

The reporter also features an interview with me about Stan. The former also wrote a sidebar story about the Alaskan dental service in which Stan participated.

A few years earlier, the Empire ran another profile of Stan which captures more of his interests and spirit.

Houston’s Fox26 ran a story about Stan on the day of the Columbus Ride of Silence. The Colorado County Citizen Gazette ran a piece on Stan just after the Ride written by the managing editor. It said in part:

As a randonneur, Stan Oldak rode his bicycle in many places that you would not normally see a bicycle.

Randonneuring is long-distance unsupported endurance cycling. This style of riding is non-competitive in nature, and self-sufficiency is paramount. When riders participate in randonneuring events, they are part of a long tradition that goes back to the beginning of the sport of cycling in France and Italy. Friendly camaraderie, not competition, is the hallmark of randonneuring.

…Stan was taking a chance by riding his bicycle in the dark along a narrow, two-lane, backwoods Texas highway at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.

We all wish that it would be perfectly safe to ride…whenever we like, wherever we like. We all know that it is not so.

The people on the roads at 2 a.m. Sunday morning are largely law enforcement and people who have been partying and are returning home after the bar has closed.

It is not a safe environment for anyone.

Someone driving a pickup truck ran into Stan from behind and he was killed instantly. According to DPS reports, we don’t know much more than that.

…Losing people we love really hurts. Senseless accidents seem to make it somehow worse, if that is possible. And when they are the good guys, the world just seems to get a little bit dimmer.

The New York Cycle Club is considering adding Stan’s name to the title of its Youth Committee since he was very active in its work.

Thanks to all for keeping Stan’s spirit and memory alive. I hope someone out there will have a guilty conscience for the rest of their lives if they don’t have the integrity and courage to turn themselves in to the authorities as they have not done till now. In a small town in Texas there must be others who know something about this accident. I just want them to know that while they may feel they are protecting a loved one, they are continuing the suffering and agony of a family and extended circle of Stan’s loved ones.

Thanks too to Mike Bronson and other Texas cyclists who’ve plastered the local community with flyers about Stan seeking information on his accident. I hope they bear fruit. If anyone has contacted the Department of Public Safety for a report on the investigation please let me know.

Yesterday, May 16th was the National Ride of Silence for fallen bike riders. There were Rides in Columbus, TX and New York City. which memorialized Stan. His buddies in the NY Cycle Club organized a ride around Central Park. Unfortunately, there was a rainstorm with threats of lightning. But still eleven riders made the trek for Stan. I was reminded of Jason’s eulogy in which he remembered that he and his dad did the last leg of the Boston-NY AIDS ride in pouring rain.

Lorretta Crosby, who has performed yeowoman service on behalf of Stan down in Texas sent this report about the ride there:

I am pleased to report that well over 50 cyclists made the Hour to hour and a half drive from Houston To Columbus (after rush hour traffic) to be there to honor Stan and bring awareness to the hit & run. Tom Zizka from our local Fox 26 Morning News and a Team ACME rider went above & beyond as he strapped his video camera to his back and rode along side the riders to capture his report. His segment first aired this morning at 6:36. Chris Barbee’s article was in circulation yesterday (Chris, can you reply back with a copy or link). The Chronicle ran a few brief words this morning in order to make the deadline but it is my understanding a longer version will be in the next print. Houston Community Newspapers should have something in print soon as well. I’ll send links to the various reports as they come in.

Reba proudly wore the medal graciously donated by a fellow randonneur as well as carried Stan’s NYCC Water Bottle. A white bike was left at the scene of the accident as a reminder to all who pass. The Poster was distributed to local businesses and the Columbus Police took back many as well.

Thank you to Tom, Chris & Dustin for your immediate coverage of this story! Tom, especially I know you had to get up early to anchor the news so making the late night trek back to Houston to edit the video and air it this morning was appreciated more than I can express. You are a true asset to Team ACME and we are so proud to say you ride with us!

I’ll have more for you later. I wish I could have met you each under different circumstances but it has been my pleasure to work with you and we sincerely hope that our efforts have aided somewhat in bringing attention to the open case.

Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle ran this brief item to publicize the Columbus Ride:

Silent riders

The fifth annual Ride of Silence, held in remembrance of cyclists who have been killed by motorized vehicles while riding their bikes, was Wednesday. The event in Columbus was especially poignant because of the recent death there of Stan Oldak, a New Yorker who came to Texas to compete in a 400K Brevet. Oldak was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver who remains at large.

The ride, in which participants are asked to remain silent and go no faster than 12 mph, is meant to raise awareness that cyclists have a right to share public roadways without risking life and limb.

Stan completed another brevet preparing for the Paris-Brest-Paris randonneur ride last April in Waterloo, IA. The local leader wrote this to Jeff Terosky of NYCC:

I am the RBA for Cedar Valley Cyclists in Waterloo, Iowa. I heard about the tragic accident to befall Stan Oldak. I am so sorry to hear this terrible news.

Stan came to Iowa for our April 21 300km brevet, and he successfully completed the event. At some point later this season, likely around September, I will have his validated card and the medal he ordered ready to send out.

Jeff replied:

I will ensure that it gets in the right hands. Also, I am not sure if there is any chance of the medal being ready before September, but some of the folks who were training with Stan for PBP will have some sort of tribute to him when they ride PBP – I think it starts on August 20? If there is any chance it will arrive before then, I bet someone would wear it on the ride.
A fellow cyclist from the Texas ride is donating their medal from Houston to Stan’s family as well. That one too will be carried to Paris before given to the family I am almost certain.

The Juneau Empire’s Korry Keeker will also run a profile of Stan this coming Sunday in the Juneau Empire. It will highlight his pediatric dental work on behalf of Inuit children through the SE Alaska Regional Health Consortium. Several years ago, the Empire ran this feature (registration required) on Stan’s work there.

Rick Braun was kind enough to share with me his eulogy for Stan delivered at the New York funeral:

I have been asked to speak representing Stan’s college fraternal group, Crown House, and the NY Cycle Club. But I speak most importantly simply as Stan’s friend. Death is one of the very hardest parts of life to deal with, particularly when someone is stolen away from life much too young. All of us here are feeling a deep sense of loss, grief, utter sadness, and yes, anger too at how our friend and relative, Stan, was taken from us. It is just impossible to believe the reality.

But let us try as best we each can to temper these feelings with all of the good memories of Stan. I knew him for forty years, since we met in our fraternal group, Crown House, at Queens College. Stan, of course, had the same qualities we know him for now. Even then, he had a passion for helping kids: he was a member of the Big Brother program in college. He was a
leader: he was president of Crown House, just as he was president of the New York Cycle Club. He led but didn’t always have to be in the limelight. He had the same impish grin and sense of humor. A small remembrance of Stan keeps popping into my mind: Stan and I were driving somewhere in separate cars and stopped next to each other at a red light. I looked over at Stan and saw this devilish gleam appear in his eyes. He turned on his windshield wipers and then exactly to the movement of the wipers, with his big grin, Stan began to rock back and forth with his hands on his head.

He loved sports and we often played ball together. He had the same generosity then as now; once he and I and others were playing basketball when I broke three caps. I was in law school and didn’t have much money so Stan offered right away to make new caps for me. Of course, he was then in dental school, and 17 visits later….

Stan was a real renaissance man. Did you know that he was a very talented photographer? That not only did he make teeth, but he also made jewelry? That he often went to New Orleans for its Jazz Fest? That he loved to dance? That he was studying the cello? Did you know that Stan was an officer in the Army? It sure freaked me out when I went to visit Janice and him in Georgia, and all these Army guys on base were saluting my college kid friend, Stan.

And Stan sure loved athletics. In later years, we hiked and played softball together with the Appalachian Mountain Club. And then there was cycling. He shared his passion with all those he could. He welcomed new cyclists to the New York Cycle Club and encouraged others, especially kids through the New York Cycle Club Youth Program. With his son, Jason, he did the Boston-New York AIDS ride, and partly in a terrible rainstorm, all to raise money for a very important cause. When I asked Stan to do the MS ride with me before Stan really got into cycling, Stan said sure, in an instant.

Stan had a dream of doing a great long ride, the Paris-Brest-Paris brevet in France. Stan had his dreams and he tried to live them. And he sure did live his life. He broke his hip cycling. He then bought a recumbent bicycle and, as soon as he could, off he rode. Later he tore his knee cycling, and after knee surgery, as soon as he could, again off he rode.
Stan tried to follow his spirit of adventure as often as he could, which led him to kayaking with the AMC, and dental gigs in Vermont and his beloved Alaska.

But Stan’s biggest passion was his children, Emily and Jason. He sure loved those two kids. He talked about them often, and when he did, his eyes lit up with pride at all of their accomplishments. Always know that, Jason and Emily.

So we are all hurting from the theft of the life of a wonderful man: a great father, son, brother, friend, Stan Oldak!

Lorretta Crosby kindly e mailed me today to ask if there was an appropriate prayer or Bible verse to recite for Stan at the Columbus Ride of Silence for Stan on Wednesday. I told her Stan wasn’t an especially religious soul. But that he’d appreciate reciting the English translation of the prayer for the dead, El Maleh Rachamim:

God filled with mercy, dwelling in the heaven’s heights, bring proper rest beneath the wings of your shekhina, amid the ranks of the holy and the pure, illuminating like the brilliance of the skies the souls of the holy who went to their eternal place of rest. May you who are the source of mercy shelter them beneath your wings eternally, and bind their souls among the living, that they may rest in peace. And let us say Amen

May He shelter Stan beneath His wings.

Jason Oldak, Stan’s son, posted on the Nycc.org discussion board his eulogy (click “cancel” when the print dialogue box opens) for his dad delivered at his funeral in New York yesterday. Stan was killed by a hit and run driver during a Texas randonneur bike ride early Sunday morning. Many, many of Stan’s cycling friends joined his friends and family for the funeral. Here’s what Jason said about his dad:

My speech to my father

…It was a sunny afternoon as we were nearing the end. Our anticipation was rising and our faces were filled with thoughts of triumph and success and some possible pasta in an hour or so! I couldn’t believe we were almost at the end. I looked down Seventh Avenue and saw a crowd of people cheering all of us on. It took us several months of training to get to this moment, this instant, this feeling, and to share it right alongside my father was something I will always remember with me forever and ever. My father and I were about to finish the Boston to New York aids ride. We rushed into the crowd and saw my sister and my mom cheering us on, and we raised our bikes above our heads with utter achievement and satisfaction and I looked at him at that moment, and thought to myself how lucky I was to have had a man like this to guide me through life. To show me the stars and teach me the paths of time. To learn the rules and then to break them. He showed me that afternoon what accomplishment was all about.

My father will be missed by so many! He was a man of great wonder and many hats. He was a science enthusiast, a lover of astronomy, an outdoorsman, a craftsman, a doctor, an athlete, an artist, but above all, the kindest soul one could meet.

He was there ALWAYS! He was at every one of my swim meets and every last one of Emily’s piano recitals and dance performances. He would skip work early to come to a little league game, or dodge traffic to make it to my gallery opening. Even after my parents divorce, he made it a point to be in our lives and push us to achieve the goals we set…for one another. His support for both Emily and me in our artistic endeavors is…astounding, and we will never forget his love and fondness for our crafts and how it transcended into his own crafts.

…My mom told me this story last night, and I’d like to share it with you. In 1973 my dad ordered a make it yourself 25” remote control color TV through a local correspondence course. My mom would come home every night from work, and he would be sodering away on this chip board and this cable linked to this thing a majig. 6 months later sitting in the living room, with a pine box surrounding the screen was a 25” working Television. He turns to my mom and says: “Watch this.” And with the flip of a button on the remote, and the funniest grin on his face, the TV came on. This was Stan.

He always had a goal. If he put his mind to something it would be achieved. He was remarkably gifted with his hands and his comprehension of the ways things work physically, and mentally, right brained and left. His passions and hobbies were endless. Life was always evolving for him and he brought that out in my sister and myself.

I am still astounded at the passion those pedals gave to him. I watched through the years the progression of love he had for the bike. After competing in some smaller rides with him around NYC and finally riding the Boston-NY ride I realized the tranquility of what the bike can do for one’s soul. It gave him every long lasting breath of fresh kissed life when he would ride for miles on end while the sun caressed the back of his neck and wind swooped by him like an eagle…When your riding you’re cruising through the world, wherever you might be at that one moment on this earth, but you’re cruising through nature, and you’re in your own Zen. It was never a race for my dad, it was more an experience, a moment in time where he was alone but together, complete and satisfied. I know my dad will always be in his very own Tao of Stan when riding!

It breaks my heart to hear of how things transpired. He was so close to kissing the Parisian air, riding alongside the hills Lance once climbed, and knowing that he belonged there at an early age of 60. He deserved it and had more passion than most. Stan will be felt on those roads this summer. I know this for sure! He worked too hard to let something like this stand in his way!

I miss him more than words can describe! I miss his talks of movies, his chicken parmesan, his walks through the park, baseball card conventions, Met games, his conversations over wine, his love for life, ski slopes, Vermont, building a tent, jazz fest, nestling next to a camp fire, showing me the ways of life, talking numbers and the stars, talking relationships and women, being there for me, and being my best friend, my true best friend! I really cannot believe he is gone! But I want more, I want him to see my future wife, and my first child, and my first big film, and my first house. He is not allowed to go yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, I now have to think back two years ago to when I was walking along the side of local beach by myself on the coast of Bali, Indonesia. I came upon a large group of Balinese carrying down from the valley a large paper mache bull on an alter with the remains of a loved one inside…It was a…traditional Balinese cremation ceremony filled with laughter, music, food and the eventual burning of the bull, where the loved one would be reincarnated in another life. As a Jew…we don’t necessarily believe in reincarnation, but what I was amazed by most in this ceremony was the lack of sorrow and pain…The rejoice and the every flowing cycle of life. It was an amazing and uplifting experience for a boy sitting on the outside of this circle, just watching. I said to myself, why do we view death so negatively, when these people rejoice, for they never really leave one’s side.

And then two years later, as I sat and wrote this speech I thought to myself the same thing. My father is gone physically yes, but he will always live on in my heart…He will watch every step I take and guide me through the easy and the rough terrain ahead. His energy will live on through all of us and he will always be that guy in the room with that amazing grin that wonderful stance and that magnificent worldly attitude for life!

Today, I received a kind e-mail from Daniel Sanchez who was on Stan’s last ride though not riding with him at the time of the accident. Daniel lives about 40 miles from Columbus. He originally wrote offering to help in my efforts to publicize Stan’s life and death. In reply to my expression of frustration at a lack of interest on the part of the local media in the story, Daniel wrote:

The RIDE OF SILENCE can help here and maybe get the word out some. Columbus is about 25,000 population. Based on where the accident happened, way over on the east of town, it almost had to be a local. He was going east towards the same town of Alleyton, population maybe 150 people, and the nearest bigger town is Sealy about 20 miles, pop. 15,000.

The lady, Reba, who was riding with Stan is a good friend of mine. I rode with her 5 weeks ago when we did a 600k. We were going to do this ride together but got separated at the start and never hooked up. Stan was my age. All of the randonneurs all realize it could have been any of us. We all wish it could just have been NO ONE.

The normal assumption is that it was alcohol related, but it was in a left curve of the road. So cell phone usage or other distractions could be the cause. Stan was wearing the correct reflective gear as required by randonneuring so VISIBILITY was not the cause or an issue. Actually, with the lights and reflective gear, etc. randonneur cyclists are MORE visible at night. I know that is hard to believe. But if you were to see us at night you would be surprised how visible we are.

There is already a lot of energy in the cycling community over Stan’s death.

later
GOD bless
daniel

A reporter for the Juneau Empire just e mailed me about a story he’s writing about Stan because of his dental work with Inuit children up there. Hard to believe that this is the first paper to write a proper story about Stan. But good for Juneau! Nothing yet from the NY Times (though I’ve called the Metropolitan desk) or the Houston Chronicle (called and e mailed their assignment editor). The Columbus newspaper would find Stan more newsworthy (beyond a brief mention of the mere details of his accident) if he lived locally (or so the publisher told me–don’t get me started). Please give this man a name beyond those who knew and loved him. He deserves it.

I have been trying to get more information about the death of my friend, Stan Oldak, killed early Sunday morning during a cycling race by a hit and run driver on I-90 in Columbus, Texas. Bob Riggs, leader of the Houston Randonneurs, who hosted the ride wrote to the Jeff Terosky, president of the New York Cycling Club this account:

Late Saturday night, near Columbus, Texas, he was struck from behind by a truck and killed. A fellow rider, who is a former ICU nurse, heard the accident. She was about 50 yards ahead and returned to help, but it was too late.

The driver of the truck left the scene. The case is being investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety (state police). They have been in touch with his family.”

The Houston Randonneur website concludes its directions about preparing for the ride with this sad (in retrospect) comment:

I hope to see a lot of smiling faces out there!

Jim Bronson, also on the ride, tells me that his dad served Stan lunch in Cistern, TX. on Saturday afternoon and they had an extensive conversation. I’m waiting for Jim’s dad to reply to my e mail to him.

I would love to get any pictures of Stan on that last ride and any other stories about the event related to him.

The local Columbus newspaper carried a short article about the accident. I spoke with the publisher today and asked if she’d run a follow up story with more personal information about Stan and she said that “because he wasn’t local” they couldn’t unless there was anything new to report about the accident. I politely told her I didn’t mean to be churlish but Stan was a real person with people who loved him and that he deserved to have his story told. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to Columbus, but how many bicyclists are killed there by hit and run drivers? Isn’t that a story worth covering?

Bob Riggs wrote me this morning to say that several riders are organizing a memorial ride for Stan through Columbus:

Reba G. and a friend are organizing a Ride of Silence next Wednesday in Columbus, the town near where the accident took place. They are in the process of contacting the town mayor and local media to get as much publicity as possibly. A number of people are planning to drive out from Houston to participate.

I hope someone reading this may be able to attend the ride there or commemorate Stan on a local Ride of Silence. Something like 7,000 cyclists are killed in similar accidents each year. It’s too many.

I have contacted the assignment editors at the Houston Chronicle and the New York Times because I would like them to honor Stan’s life and also appeal for help in getting the driver to come forward and accept his responsibility for what happened. This post from the League of American Bicyclists about Stan’s death captures my feelings precisely:

We don’t know all the details of the crash – except that, yet again, the driver couldn’t be bothered to stop. I don’t know what the actual numbers are, but it seems to me that each year more and more fatal and severe bicyclist and pedestrian crashes involve hit and run drivers. Given the pretty pathetic punishments handed out to many of those that do stop and face the consequences, this is even more disappointing.

What do we do? We express our sincere condolences. We hope the driver has the courage to turn themselves into the authorities. Maybe we join a Ride of Silence (May 16) and honor Stan and the other 700 cyclists we can be pretty sure will be killed this year on our nation’s roads.

Somehow it doesn’t seem like that’s enough.

We’ll carry on with our education programming and our exhortations to build better roads to accommodate cyclists. And we know that somehow we need to do more to instill in people in this country that cyclists are people too, with real talents, value, skills, family, and friends. Our lives should not be cheapened or diminished because we happen to wear Lycra on occasion and ride a bike. We must drive home the idea that driving a car is a responsibility, not a right, and that the privilege given people to drive can and must be taken seriously or be taken away. For real.

Stan’s family encourage anyone wishing to honor him by making a donation to either:

New York Cycle Club (NYCC) Youth Program
P.O. Box 4541
Grand Central Station
New York, NY 10163
(Please add a memo that it is in Stan’s Memory)

The Juilliard School

http://www.juilliard.edu/giving/general.html

60 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-6588
(Please add a memo that the donation is in memory of Stan Oldak)