I just found out today that Dan Erwin was killed in a motorcycle accident the other day.
You may not know his name, but he wrote many articles for Bimmer Magazine, Roundel and others. He was a true BMW enthusiast and gonzo writer. One of my favorite BMW articles ever was one he wrote that chronicled the adventures of "Crusty" - the 2002 he patched together and drove to the BMW CCA OctoberFest when it was in Colorado. Here is a link to one of the
articles he wrote about it...
I spent many hours drinking beer with Dan when he came to SouthEast SharkFest (the 6'er event held every year - he came to most of them). He encouraged me to write my article for The Roundel the first year I attended (he wrote the article for Bimmer that year), and bestowed upon me his version of knighthood - "Fellow Dog Lackey of the Press". He was always good for a story, and since he traveled the world and was such a boundless and adventurous personality, they were always great. His was the first M635 I ever got to drive. Probably the best car compliment I ever got was Dan telling me I was crazy to put my car at risk for a beer run (I was totally sober, but there was a HUGE thunderstorm heading in). For Dan, running out of beer at SharkFest would have been a disaster, so I knew his heart was in the right place. As with most of my time with Dan, that little trip had more than it's share of adventure.
I spent more time than usual with him this year at SharkFest, and it reminded me of the community of people I've found through that event. I said once that my biggest problem at SharkFest was a wealth of good company. Dan was a big part of that, and I'm very, very sad to lose him.
RIP Dan - I'll hoist many a beer in your honor.
