A mournful Pride
by Mel Green
Just a few minutes after it began, Anchorage’s annual Pride parade ended in tragedy with the accidental death of James L. Crump, a registered nurse with the Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services and a loved member of the Anchorage LGBT community. James will be remembered at a Pride Ecumenical Service on Sunday, June 26 at 1:00 PM at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church at Lake Otis and Tudor.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Grand Marshal's car shortly before the parade began"]
[/caption]
In spite of grey skies, cool and windy weather, and the fear of rain, Anchorage’s Alaska Pride Fest began with excitement and anticipation this morning as the LGBT’s annual Pride parade participants assembled on D Street just south of 6th Avenue. A few blocks away on 6th Avenue across from F Street, in front of the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (PAC), Daphne DoAll LaChores of Mad Myrna’s Friday Night Divas had already been greeting fans and admirers and warming up to emcee the parade for at least a half hour. I’d taken some photos of her around 10:30 on my way to D Street, where I took additional photos before the parade’s beginning, including this of the Grand Marshal’s car, which I learned from press accounts later was a 1971 Triumph Stag:
Update: The man in the green shirt and baseball cap has been identified as James L. Crump.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Dykes on Bikes turning off D Street onto 6th Avenue at the parade's start at about 11:04 AM."]
[/caption]
The parade started shortly after 11:00 after the last regular traffic was let through on 6th Avenue. Dykes on Bikes led off, heading up to where Daphne and the largest collection of spectators were gathered.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="One of the buses still coming up 6th Avenue when the parade began. The pink figure in the background is emcee Daphne DoAll LaChores."]
[/caption]
They had only two lanes of 6th Avenue’s three lanes: two People Mover buses were still moving along the street from the Transit Center at 6th and G — a factor which may have lent confusion to the traffic situation where tragedy soon unfolded.
Here’s what I saw: I had run up the street alongside the Dykes on Bikes, intending to continue taking photos of the entire parade as it moved through Daphne’s location at the PAC. Daphne typically engages with all the parade participants as they go through, eliciting lots of laughter and great photo opportunities. Daphne spent longer than usual with Dykes on Bikes, chiefly because the parade had come to an unanticipated halt a block away, between E and D Streets. In between taking photos, I fleetingly wondered what the delay was. None of us at 6th and F was aware of the tragedy that was already transpiring behind us.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="At about 11:07 AM. Traffic had come to a halt behind us."]
[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Police cars speed past the Transit Center"]
[/caption]
I first became aware that some kind of problem was afoot when I saw three police cars with sirens coming down 6th Avenue past the Transit Center, just about when Christopher Constant came up from where the parade was held up to tell Daphne and me that the parade marshal’s car had struck and killed someone.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Emergency vehicles in the accident area"]
[/caption]
I think we went into some form of shock. But we also had questions. Daphne’s question: what to tell spectators? I didn’t know. My question: could Christopher possibly be wrong? Might the person hit by the car have only been injured — but still have survived? I went back — as a fire truck and other emergency vehicles arrived — to find a figure lying on the pavement covered in a white sheet; and I knew he’d been right.
I did not take a picture of him. It seemed disrepectful of his life and its sudden loss. I did learn that his first name was James, that he was a nurse, that he was a member of our community who had attended the local MCC. I learned that the driver, Edie, was a straight ally who also was associated with MCC. Up the street, Daphne announced that an accident had occurred and the parade was canceled, that people should go on to Delaney Park Strip where the Pride picnic that always follows the parade was going to be held.
I did not know James, and I do not know Edie. But this is not a story I can write neutrally, dispassionately, from a distance. James was, and Edie is, a member of my community, and so is everyone who was present there this morning at both parade and picnic. Here’s what I prayed as I walked up H Street to the Park Strip:
I pray for you, James, and for your friends and family.
I pray for you who were in the car that struck him, and for all who were witnesses.
I pray for all of us.
I pray that those who hate us open their hearts so far as not to use this death, this loss, as another avenue of hate. I know that’s asking a lot, but I pray for it anyway.
I had no access to Internet until I got home in the evening, but at the Park Strip, E. Ross — also of Bent Alaska — told me that rumors were already afloat on Facebook that the person who had been killed was Edie — a rumor no doubt fed by initial reports (I know now) by KTUU Channel 2 News and the Anchorage Daily News that the victim was a woman. Those stories have since been corrected.
It was only later, after police released information, that we learned our lost community member was James L. Crump, 50, a nurse for the Municipality of Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services.
I later learned that Christopher Constant — who had first told me about the accident — had, along with Anchorage Press reporter Brendan Joel Kelley-Hellenthal and his wife Megan Kelley-Hellenthal, been carrying a banner directly in front of where James was also a banner carrier when the accident occurred. They were witnesses to the accident and his death. Brendan and Megan came briefly by the Pride picnic at Delaney Park Strip, and were still very shaken. So was Doug Frank, the parade’s Grand Marshal, who was one of three passengers in the vehicle that struck James.
This photo, from shortly before the parade began, shows Brendan, Christopher, and Megan carrying the frontmost banner. I am supposing that one of the men in the next row of banner carriers was James L. Crump. [Update: He has been identified as the man in the middle of the second row wearing a green shirt and baseball cap.] The parade marshal’s car is immediately behind, with Doug Frank standing in it.
Bent Alaska has also heard from Talyne Corlyn and Steve Belka, who also witnessed the event and and gave us permission to share these details. Talyne wrote to us,
My husband Steve and I were walking next to him.
A young guy was on the other side of him. As he fell Steve rushed to him [James] and held as he passed. Steve is experienced in EMS and spoke with him and touched his face. I guess we just you to know that he wasn’t alone at that moment and somehow, it’s helping me a little. Steve is grieving though and since we live out of town and run in different circles, we don’t have anyone nearby to be with. So we have decided, to visit MCC tomorrow morning.
He was a kind and funny soul. Our hearts are with everyone on this day and with his family in California.
MCC no longer exists, but tomorrow (Sunday) at 1 PM there will be a Pride Ecumenical Service at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, on the corner of Tudor and Lake Otis (where MCC used to meet.) Everyone is welcome to attend.
The following videos were taken at the Pride festival at Delaney Park Strip. Festival goers did not initially know the identity of the accident victim until Identity board member Vic Carlson announced it midway through.
News accounts
Per the Anchorage Daily News:
Police late Saturday identified the victim as 50-year-old James L. Crump of Anchorage. Crump worked as a nurse for the city’s Health and Human Services department, police said.
The 1971 Triumph Stag convertible was traveling at a low speed when it hit and dragged the man, police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said.
Police said the driver was Edith Bailey, 70, of Eagle River.
Grand Marshal Doug Frank said he was riding in the black convertible when the driver had trouble with the car’s accelerator. It lurched forward, Frank said.
“It ran over a person, totally over,” he said, sobbing. “This went from one of the best days of my life to the worst.”
Crump’s body, covered in a white sheet, lay in the middle of Sixth Avenue between D and E streets in front of the JC Penney garage following the accident. Rescuers tried unsuccessfully to revive Crump with CPR, Parker said.
Police will be looking closely at any mechanical issues with the car, Parker said.
The Alaska Dispatch:
A 50-year-old man who was participating in the Alaska PrideFest was killed in what the parade’s grand marshal described as a “horrible accident” just before the parade began on Sixth Ave. in downtown Anchorage.
James L. Crump, a registered nurse with the city’s Department of Health and Human Services, was walking in front of the convertible that PrideFest Grand Marshal Doug Frank was riding in. Frank, who is a longtime Alaskan and activist in Anchorage’s LGBQT community, described Crump as “someone he’s seen out in the community.”
The car, a Triumph Stag with a Corvette engine, was driven by Edith Bailey, a 70-year-old Eagle River resident. According to Frank, the car lurched forward, Crump fell down and the car drove over him.
“It was awful. The man didn’t say a word or make a sound. Hopefully it was fast and painless,” Frank said.
It all happened quickly, between 10:45 and 11 a.m., just before the parade was to officially begin.
In fact, it was shortly after 11:00 AM, a few minutes after the parade began. The Alaska Dispatch goes on:
Frank said that Bailey was devastated.
“The best, happiest day of my life became the worst,” Frank said.
Lt. Dave Parker said that alcohol was not believed to have been a factor in the accident, according to a press release from the department late Saturday afternoon.
One eyewitness, who had mistaken the long-haired man [in fact, James Crump had very short hair — Ed.] for a woman, said that floats were lined up, waiting to begin, when an event organizer relayed the bad news. He called it an “irresponsible” and unfortunate turn of events for a day that had been especially joyful for Alaska’s queer communities, coming hours after the state of New York had legalized gay marriage, doubling the number of American gay men and women who could legally wed.
I have found, since downloading photos, that my camera had from a distance captured some of what happened, as police and rescuers had attempted to revive James Crump. I am so sorry they could not. We at Bent Alaska send our deepest condolences to his friends, family, and coworkers. In the words of one of our Facebook friends,
Hearts and prayers for the victim’s family, friends and loved ones. Hearts and prayers to bystanders, parade participants, the driver and passengers, their families, friends and loved ones. To the entire LGBTQ community.
Rest in peace.
Media sources
- “Updated: Traffic Fatality Halts Gay Pridefest Parade” by Christine Kim, Amberia Hill, and Tim Akimoff (KTUU Channel 2 News).
- “Car hits, kills marcher in PrideFest parade –SLOW: Grand marshal said driver had accelerator trouble” by Casey Grove (Anchorage Daily News, June 25, 2011). [Note: Quotes of this story may vary from final version, which has been updated at least twice since it was first reported.]
- “Parade Walker Killed At Alaska Pridefest Parade” by Kirsten Swann and Heather VacLav (KTVA Channel 11 News, June 25, 2011).
- “Nurse killed in Alaska PrideFest accident” by Eric Christopher Adams (Alaska Dispatch, June 25, 2011).
21 Comments »
1 Pingbacks »
-
[...] did she die? It’s every bit as much a question as what we faced last year, with thedeath of James Crump in a tragic accident at the beginning of Anchorage’s Pride parade almost exactly a year ago. In [...]
Leave a comment!
Thank you Mel for the heart felt article. James is in the second picture in the baseball cap speaking to Edie and Doug and in the banner picture, fourth from the left. The Crump family appreciates the support and well wishes we have received. James was a wonderful brother who loved life, his family and friends. We will truly miss him.
I’m one of James Crump’s cousins in Mississippi, and I’d like to thank you sincerely for your presentation of what happened yesterday. Our thoughts go out to all involved, with special thanks to Steve for being there for James, who was truly a special human being. Peace to all.
My condolences to James’ family and friends. My husband and I both knew him and he was always cheerful, friendly and smiling. He will be missed.
I was so saddened to read of the accident. I am sorry it caused a pall over what should have been such an auspicious occasion with the historic NY ruling from the day before. I am sickened at the jokes that came at the expense of this horrible tragedy.
To the family members that wrote on Mel’s blog, it’s touching you are engaged, I can’t imagine what you are going through.
I am sorry if I take no comfort at the loss of life being quick and painless, the man didn’t have to die in such preventable manner. I’m sure that that 70 year old woman is wracked with guilt and there is no amount of comfort she can take from within herself or well-meaning friends and family. Am I the only person asking why a senior was driving an unfamiliar car? Maybe I am being ageist, but I think we’ve all seen how they can drive even without the debilitating affects of diabetes. I don’t want to pile on the guilt or the blame, but I can’t help but be upset at such a senseless death.
My sympathies to the Anchorage (and the whole State’s) LGBT community. Despite my harsh criticism of the driver, I am touched that Crump’s cousin leaves off by wishing Peace to All, peace to her too.
I am saddened by the news of James Crump. He used to work with FedEx and was very much loved; the FedEx family would love to donate flowers for his service, please let us know what we can do.
He brought so much joy and smiles to many lives. He was such a funny and admirable person, he will be deeply missed. My thoughts and prayers are with the Crump family during this difficult moment.
Debbie & Debra: This was one of the most difficult blog posts I’ve ever written — can’t say how much it means to come home to your words. I went to the ecumenical Pride service held today, which had already been scheduled but which became also a memorial service to James. There weren’t many dry eyes. Your brother/your cousin will miss him too, and the prayers of all the Anchorage LGBT community are going out to your family.
Thank you also Stacey and Mostly Alaskan and My thoughts for writing.
Mostly Alaskan, I don’t know that anyone even knows enough yet to judge issues of responsibility in James’ death, or knows much beyond rumor about whether the car situation was mechanical difficulties, confusion, or what. I would rather wait until Anchorage PD has made its investigations to form opinions about that. I only know that Edie, the driver, is also suffering a lot, along with her family. I don’t know her, nor did I know James, but both of them are members of my community, of my extended family. Every account I’ve heard from people who do is that she knew James and is devastated by his death and her role in it. She and her family also have my prayers.
What an absolutely devastating turn of events this is. The entire LGBT community and indeed all Alaskans must be reeling from the loss of such a valued member of society. Thank you Mel for your prayer and the heartfelt sentiments expressed. May I just add my own personal Amen.
I’m sorry I had a really hard time following the story, but the man was walking in the parade holding a banner in front of the convertible, right? Looking at your pictures, I think a contributing factor to the accident is in your very first picture and the second to last one – the pink pinwheel thing on the front of the convertible. It may have obstructed the driver’s view of where James was standing. In the pic of you looking back down the parade route when traffic stopped, after the accident, the pink pinwheel is under the front of the car. Is it possible the driver didn’t see James and he was struck by and caught on the pinwheel and that’s why he got dragged under the car? This is so tragic. God rest his soul.
Mel,
Thank you again for your writing. Your devotion to this community really came through on this blog post. I agree, we may not all know one another personally but when we loose a member of our community it is felt by all.
To Mostly Alaskan,
Hind sight is always 20, 20. Accidents happen to all of us. To the doctor who lost his life while skiing Alyeska this past winter, to an old friend who was killed when her vehicle went off the side of the road. Accidents happen to all of us. Normally accidents are not because of one single event, they happen through a chain of events that all manage to link up to bring about the terrible event. Had the doctor taken a different route, a different chairlift, maybe had that extra cup of coffee. Who knows… For my friend killed in the automobile accident. Had she, left the house just 1 minute later or earlier, stopped for coffee and or lunch, who knows she might still be with us today. If any of us had a crystal ball I am quite certain each of us would make different choices. The fact of the matter is that we all do the best we can with what we have and with what we do not have. This is not the time to pass judgement. This is the time for the community to come together in support of one another. To be there for James Crump’s family and friends, the members of Identity and their friends and family, for Edie and her family and for our community as a whole.
mocha: I have a hard time judging myself. One thing important about my closeup photos of the car (and sometimes marchers), including that second to the last one (before the video): they were taken before the parade began, where the parade assembled on D Street between 6th Avenue and 9th Avenue, along perhaps 2 and a half blocks of street. Thus, the distance between people & vehicles was compressed in comparison with the spacing they would have when the parade actually began. I’ve taken loads of photos of a number of these parades: there’s much more distance when they’re actually walking.
That said, I ran up to where Daphne was emceeing, two blocks west of where the parade emerged from D Street onto 6th Avenue, and did not actually see how it was deploying behind me. And based on the timestamps on my photos, it appears that the accident occurred within just 5 or 6 minutes of the parade start, which was just a couple of minutes (according to my timestamps — which are somehow still on Alaska Standard Time) after 11:00 AM.
Mel, I read of this first on Gryphen’s blog. My sincere condolences to all involved, especially James Crump’s family and friends. Your reporting coverage of this tragedy, your beautiful expression of sympathy was sobering and respectful. Whenever someone’s light is snuffed out on earth, it returns to the universe and continues to shine as those mourning slowly come to terms with the pain of loss and pondering the randomness of it all.
I feel a tinge of sorrow and guilt, because I was busy watching the news in New York, and wishing the same for all states in the union, and the world.
Add my prayers and condolences, I hope his family eventually finds healing and consolations in his contribution to their lives.
My heartfilled condolences to the whole LBGT community that this tragedy happened on a day which had such promise for joy and celebration. I especially pray for the family of James Crump, and for the driver of the car. She is reported as being devastated; I can believe that. As for her age, I am close to that and consider myself a good driver. I have friends in their 80s I would ride with anytime. It isn’t age; its health that is the major factor. I wouldn’t judge her by her age. Lets wait for the police report.
Peace to all.
I saw this happen. It was a very sad accident. My prayers go out to Mr. Crumps friends and family. And for all those people that are saying this was God’s plan, I pray for you too. God doesn’t kill people. And only God can judge. A real human lost their life in a split second. I’m so sad the way our country is going. RIP James
Our hearts are saddened to hear of this tragic accident. James and Edie are both very dear friends of ours. James was a wonderful person, who always had a beautiful smile to greet you with. Our thoughts and prayers are with James family and also with Edie.
Until we meet again my friend.
Thank you Mel for your sensitive coverage of this. It means a lot to all of James’s family who are far away. Thank you.
Kit, thank you for writing. I’m glad it helps.
One of our Assembly members, Elvi Gray-Jackson, is introducing a resolution at tonight’s Anchorage Assembly meeting to remember and honor James. It will be at 5:15 PM Alaska time (8:15 PM Eastern time). I hope that you and all your family can also be there in spirit.
I was at the parade with the People of Faith group waiting to start when we got the awful news about James. He was a good friend of mine from MCC. We knew each other well in that small church for several years. He always had a ready smile and something nice to say. Often he also had brought something nice to eat as well. Edie was also a member of MCC and just as active in the church. She and James were very good friends. I still consider her to be my friend. My heart goes out to the Crump family and to Edie. She needs our support as a community. She has always been there for the local GLBT community. She is a capable driver; I know as she has given me many rides to and from church.
I will miss James forever. I am deeply saddened to see the criticism Edie is suffering. She feels tremendous remorse and will live with this tragic accident for the rest of her life. I guess I just want to say I love both these friends. I always will.
Oh Chuck, I agree with you completely. I don’t know Edie, but I want her to know that she is as far as I’m concerned a member of my extended family and community, & I hope I’ll get to tell her that in person.
It was an accident. A very tragic accident, but an accident. And I’m so sorry for her hurt, as I am about the hurt everyone else has felt from this.
These events are tragic and to many I would think the word tragic does not fully sum up what many must be feeling.
To the family of Mr. Crump we share in your loss and wish you peace and understanding as you move through this very sad time in your life.
Reading the comments on many of the news sites have been troubling. Anger seems to be shifting to Ms. Bailey. From what I can tell Ms. Bailey has done an awful lot for our community. She is a foster parent to many children. She has volunteered at the community center and yet I do not see these commendable acts of love and kindness being shared with the broader community. Instead people are vilifying Ms. Bailey because of her age. Ms. Bailey and Mr. Crump were friends and this must be horrible for her in ways many of us cannot and will not understand.
Ms. Bailey should, without question, have the support of every LGBT person in Anchorage. This unfortunate event is something Ms. Bailey will carry with her for the rest of her life and I say, “it is enough.”
I hope steps are taken to ensure people are not told to stand closely to moving vehicles in the future. I hope when organizers ask others to drive vehicles or operate other machinery, that they are familiar with those vehicles. While we cannot change what has happen, the organizers and decision makers can implement steps and procedures to minimize the potential of this happening again.
Peace to all.
Very difficult to be a far-away family member and not able to attend the service last night for James. It’s one thing for his family to know how special he was, and quite another to realize the positive impact James had on the community he chose to live within. I hope there was much laughter along with the tears. I hope there were lots of stories, for nothing else describes our lives so well. A far-away toast to my extraordinary cousin, James; what a gentleman, what a gentle man.
Thanks for writing again, Deb. I was at the service last night — & yes, there was a LOT of laughter to go along with the tears. Your cousin was well-loved here, & was well-remembered last night. I wish that I myself had known him.
Please come back to this blog. There is more to be said, which will be said.