Fallen Comrade.

It is with great sadness that I report on the death of Larry Grodsky. Larry was a great advocate for motorcycle safety training. Between his passion for riding and his dedication to training others Larry contributed immensely to the world of motorcycling.

You may be familiar with Larry's column in Rider Magazine called "Stayin' Safe". In one of life's ironies, Larry was killed Saturday night, April 8 when his bike hit a deer at night in Texas. Larry had purchased a bike in California and was taking it home to Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania.

Katie's comment to me was that Larry died doing what he loved. Not to sound morbid, but Katie wished the same for me. I guess she means that as a compliment. The point is, the more a person rides the more risks they are exposed to. Those of us who live on bikes may be likely to die on bikes. When you see an obituary that says "So and so died at home", the same can be said for us. The bike is our home. I hope to live to a ripe old age but it would be far preferable to go out active instead of rotting away with my mind gone.

Please don't fixate on the irony of Larry's being killed on a bike. He and I shared discussions on and off over the years. We both started out as MSF instructors and went other directions in our training paths. We both disagreed with the direction the MSF was heading but remained totally dedicated to promoting training. Larry was as open and willing to share as anyone I have ever met. In fact, the first time I sent him an e-mail I was astounded that he took time to answer it. That started a long acquaintance that enriched my life. Larry's passing will leave a hole in the universal Karma.

I implore you not to consider Larry's death as an unfortunate statistic. Honor the man by considering him a fallen Road Warrior. A warrior who dedicated his life to fighting a battle. A battle against the Grim Reaper. A warrior whose weapons were his intelligence and skill which he tried to pass on to other riders.

For those of you who knew Larry or knew of him and would like to express condolences to his family and to his dear friend Mary Ann Puglisi you may do so at the following link:

www.post-gazette.com/gb

I'm not always good at html so if the link doesn't work just paste it into your browser.


Godspeed, Mr. Grodsky!