Lindsey Karl of West Hartford, Conn., rose from her meal and walked to the curb to catch a little warmth from the sun shining there. Her daughter Gelseigh Karl-Cannon, a junior at Columbia, stayed put, shivering in her overcoat and jiggling her legs -- clad in long socks -- to stay warm. Eating outdoors, she explained, had been her idea, and it was important to tough it out.That the Times caught Karl-Cannon enjoying food is appropriate. As noted in her LinkedIn profile, she was an environmental studies major at Columbia. But she appears to have been well-known around campus for her participation in 4Local, whose website describes the project like so:"This is the first nice day of the year," Ms. Karl-Cannon said. "I guess when you live in New York, you just get used to being cold a lot of the time. When my friends and I go out at night, there's usually a stiff breeze blowing."
Her mother, looking unconvinced, suggested they move on. "This has been a pretty short brunch," Ms. Karl said.
We are a group of students dedicated to providing sustainable, delicious and healthy food to the Columbia campus. Sign up below for our weekly lunch program, submit an $8 payment (by paypal or credit card) and then come visit us on Monday to pick up a tasty, freshly prepared 3-course vegetarian boxed lunch. We source local and organic ingredients whenever possible.Here's a photo of Karl-Cannon from the site: In addition, the school's newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator, featured Karl-Cannon in a senior spotlight video. The clip, on view below, depicts her as a bright, funny young woman with a very clear idea of where she was going in her life.
Such hopes ended at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, when Karl-Cannon was hit by a truck near the intersection of 1st Avenue and Clayton Street. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead when she failed to respond to treatment. The Denver coroner's office lists her cause of death as "complications of pelvic crush injury," and its manner as "accidental."
An extremely tragic accident it was -- and one sure to further ratchet up concerns about the interaction between cyclists and motor vehicles in Denver. Here's the Spectator video.
Senior Spotlight: Gelseigh Karl-Cannon from Columbia Daily Spectator on Vimeo.
Update, 9:28 a.m. November 8: Continue to see an excerpt from the police report on the accident. This page features an illustration of the accident scene, as well as a chilling quote from the driver whose vehicle struck Karl-Cannon: "The light had just turned green and I started to go and then I heard a female screaming."
More from our Follow That Story archive: "Dan Peterson, R.I.P.: Remembering hit-and-run victim who elevated bike-safety concerns."
