More bad news.
This time, it could hit close to home for many LA bicyclists.
According to an email from Velo Club La Grange, longtime club member Edgar Burcksen died Sunday morning, five days after he was injured while riding on San Vicente Blvd this past Tuesday.
Unfortunately, there’s no information at this time on whether Burcksen was struck by a driver or injured in fall, or where it occurred on San Vicente, which runs from South LA to Santa Monica. (Note: See Update 2 below for more information.)
Here’s how the email to club members described Burcksen.
Edgar was a long time LaGrange member who was a dependable, hardworking wheel just as he was in his life as an accomplished film editor, husband, father and friend. Well into his seventies, Edgar continued to ride numerous double centuries and participated in many club events including the LaGrange cup races. In 2006 Edgar edited the documentary about club founder Raymond Fouquet and Velo Club LaGrange early days called “The Gift”. Edgar’s cheerful smile and laugh will be missed.
Edgar is survived by his wife Jana, his son Branko and daughter Romaika.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.
Update: Film industry publication Variety reports Burcksen died of complications from a heart attack in Los Angeles; he was 76.
According to IMDB, Burksen had a long career in Hollywood as a film editor after moving here from his native Netherlands, working on projects ranging from The Hunt for Red October and Die Hard 2 to award-winning TV series and documentaries.
Here’s how they end their bio.
Edgar Burcksen is an avid cyclist who rides100 miles every week with his Brentwood cycling club LaGrange, he is a member of the Editors Guild, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, he served the Board of Directors of ACE for many years and was the Editor in Chief of ACE’s magazine CinemaEditor for more than 17 years. For his contributions during his tenure as Editor in Chief of CinemaEditor he received the prestigious Robert Wise Award during the 2011 ACE Eddie Awards. He is fluent in English, German, French and of course Dutch.
Update 2: I’m told that Burcksen’s heart attack had nothing to do with the fact that he was riding a bike at the time, and was not caused by bicycling. He actually passed 12 days after the initial incident.
As a result, I am removing his death from the fatality totals for both Southern California and Los Angeles.
I also initially spelled his name as Burksen, rather than Burcksen, based on other reports, and apologize for the mistake.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Edgar Burcksen and all his family and loved ones.
Photo from Velo Club La Grange
Thanks to Mitchell Guzik, Aaron A. Thomas and ChrisByBike for the heads-up.
