In art and literary lore, Ken Ruzicka is known for being the driver that hit Frank O’Hara in Fire Island Pines. Decades after the poet's death, Ruzicka reflects on that tragic night in 1966.
“People would be rude and say, ‘You were the one that killed the poet Frank O’Hara,’” he says. “It wasn’t like I was drinking or speeding or doing anything illegal. All of a sudden there’s a tragedy.”
During the 1960s, the Pines was still figuring out its identity as it became a mixed community of straight and gay people. There was a unique blend of locals and the rich and elite from the city; the area was described as camp and swanky when compared with nearby Cherry Grove. It was in 1966 when John Whyte, a former magazine model, famously created the
At the time of the accident, Ruzicka was employed as a plumber by gas company LaFontaine. Ruzicka’s matter-of-fact recall of the encounter is less riveting than the version told from Mitchell's vantage point, who detailed the accident in an essay after O’Hara’s death, which appears in Bill Berkson’s. Combining the two accounts begins to give a clear picture of the events of that night.
“If the tide was out, you ran on the beach closest to the water because the sand was firmer,” she says. “If the tide wasn’t out, your choice was to ride the ruts, which is where people kind of made a pathway up a little bit closer to the dune.” “I saw his leg was injured and pretty much thought that was all it was. I backed up and the police came and they took him off. From what I understood, he was okay. Then I heard later on that he passed away, which for anyone, especially a talented person, is a horrible thing. But I don’t know what I could have done differently other than not being there,” Ruzicka says.
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