I just received the following email from Colleen Whyte:
"I just got some distressing news: It appears that Steve Urbanowicz passed away Friday while walking with a friend. He collapsed and medics was not able to revive him! I only just spoke to him on Thursday. We were planning to meet up soon."
Steve was a very sweet man even if we didn't always see eye to eye - I knew him primarily from his days of handling PR for CI Astroland. I wish all of his family and friends my heartfelt condolences. He wrote several amusement park related books including "The Cheapskate's Guide To Themeparks" and "The Roller Coaster Lover's Companion".
I was saddened to hear about it early this morning. We never met *in person*, but I knew Steve online and thru several other good friends...his enthusiasm and passion will surely be missed... :(
Sad news indeed....looks like my copy of Rollercoaster lovers companion will become even more valuable now.
You can tell that Steve was a passionate enthusiest in every sense of the word & he certainly will be missed,at least he's now in that great park in the sky where the rides never break,the gates never close & the lines are always short.
Doesa anyone happen to know how old Steve happened t obe at the time of his passing? I'd like to post his birthdate as well as the date of his passing but don't have that information.
Steve was born on 2/12/59 and passed away Friday 10/28/05.
There will be a gathering of his friends to memorialize Steve, to those that know him, I am working with Roxann to prepare this sendoff for him. If I have missed anyone in e-mails, please feel free to e-mail me at chillforce@comcast.net. Dropped AOL earlier this year.
Awful news. I never knew Steve personally but I'm sure a lot of others can relate when I say that I FELT like I knew him. The world needs more enthusiasts like Steve. I'll take a few laps on the Cyclone for him next year.
I was shocked to hear the news early this morning. I never had the pleasure of meeting Steve in person but I have talked to him many times online. He was very sweet and talented as a writer.
I was thinking about him all day today, as well as his family/closest friends. They are in my thoughts. :-(
Way back in 1998 we were getting ready for my first ever CP trip and my dad called the hotel we were staying at, saying that it was reccomended in the Rollercoaster Lover's Companion, and it turned out that Steve was standing right next to the man who answered the phone. Talk about luck. He gave us some great information on the point and got me completely addicted to the place.
While never meeting 'face-to-face', we did talk online.
Steve was definitly the 'Anti-Ruben'. He was always classy on the coaster shows he was interviewed for, he knew what he was talking about, and he was pleasant.
He knew how to be what the PR for the parks wanted without declaring everything 'My Number One Ride!'
I look forward to riding a coaster or two with him one day :).
This is shocking news. 46 years old is too young. It's a shame. Being from Philidelphia, I always watched that Medusa segment closely because GADV is only an hour away. It was nice to see a coaster nearby on the Discovery Channel. As stated in a previous post, he did a very good narration of the ride. He seemed like a big fan of GADV. It was weird, I just saw him the other day on TV for the Kingda Ka special. I said to myself, "Hey, that's the guy who was riding Medusa on Extreme Rides back in 2000." My condolences go out to his family and friends. He will be missed.
There's a picture of Steve in the preface page before the contents of Rollercoaster lovers companion featuring him & a few others on the Pheonix @ Knobels.
Never met Steve, but own his book, "The Roller Coaster Lover's Companion" and have several videos where he made appearances. He was always very knowledgeable, but fun to listen to...always.
