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Critical Mass St Louis Founder Dr Dan Kliman is Dead

Author:Steve Patterson December 3rd, 2008

He lived in St Louis for about 5 years before moving to the San Francisco bay area. Dr. Dan Kliman’s body was found at the bottom of an elevator shaft on Monday December 1st, 2008. He was 38.

I met Dan Kliman a decade ago. In the late 1990s I was an avid cyclist. Dr. Kliman was a cycling activist. He started the controversial “Critical Mass” bike ride here after having been a part of Critical Mass Chicago while in medical school. He lived in the CWE but worked at a hospital in St Charles - he took MetroLink and his bike to get there.

Image from Dr Klimans Facebook profile.

Image from Dr Kliman's Facebook profile.

Besides being a cycling activist he was also a pro-gay and pro-Israel activist. He joined my South Park group on Wednesday evenings at Colorado restaurant on Laclede. One weekend about 10 years ago we went to Chicago for a bike ride. Yes, a bike ride in Chicago in December! I think everyone started gathering around 9am at a microbrewery. After drinking a good amount of beer and filling our water bottles with more beer the group biked to the famed Michigan Ave. We’d gather outside of posh stores and sign twisted Christmas lyrics. You know, anti-commercialism, anti-fur sorts of twisting. I would have been 31, it was fun. Even the snow and ice we encountered on the bike ride back to a friend’s place where we were staying was fun.

Dan Kliman was an acquired taste - many were put off by his strong opinions and loud voice. Others just hated his insistence on asserting his rights as a cyclist. He was certainly an in your face type. I figured if he were to die it would be because a motorist ran him over.

Dr. Kliman moved from St Louis to California, specifically the East Bay, in November 2002.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued this statement:

The Anti-Defamation League is deeply saddened by the death of pro-Israel activist Daniel Kliman, a founder of San Francisco Voice for Israel. According to police reports, on December 1st, Mr. Kliman’s body was found at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the Sharon Building located at 55 New Montgomery Street. The police investigation is ongoing.

The ADL, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

Police are investigating his death, some suspect he may have been murdered.
Peace Dan.

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  • Rob Ennals
    We've created a facebook group to memories, information, and events about Dan Kliman.

    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36707179665
  • Appreciated reading your memories of Dan. As a Bay Area cycling advocate, I got to know Dan a little after he moved out here and he'll be missed.

    We have set up a memorial fund to honor his advocacy, the money will be going to Israel for Bicycles, honoring not only his bike advocacy, but also his passion and advocacy for Israel.

    A link to the donation site is available at on my site.

    We'll have a page up on the BikeAlameda site as well later in the day.
  • john w.
    now, now, people... let's not fight in here, let's meet on the street and beat the hell out of each other. C'mon, it'll be fun. Afterward, we can return to this great blog and get on with it.
  • Adam
    reginald, you probably should have sat this one out. there was no need for such an ugly comment. the guy is dead. as for disrupting traffic - big deal. lots of things disrupt traffic: parades, college football games, schoolchildren crossing the street. as for denting cars - blame the individuals who did the denting, not the hundreds (thousands?) who did not.
  • Ryan
    Hey Troll,

    That was an awesome rebuttal, did you come up with that one all on your own or seek assistance in formulating such drivel.

    Seriously copying what I expressed to you further emphasizes my point. I have been reading this blog since moving to St. Louis Steve does an excellent job of posting a topic but the gem of this site is in the outstanding commentary from so many posters who add insight into the discussion at hand.

    What do you provide, why do you post here; from your previous comments it does not seem like you are interested in urban issues and as much as I appreciate diverse opinion, your comments (for example here) diminishes something I truly value.

    I honestly believe that Stltoday.com forums would be more to your liking as they provide your myopic sense of the world with a dose of hostility.

    Other than being a troll what other intention could you possibly have for such thoughtless commentary?
  • samizdat
    Hmmm, well, cars often put big dents in people. So, ya' know, let's call it even. And I've noticed that the hatred on both sides in the Isreal/Palestine conflict is, for the most part, reciprocated. So much anger, so much intransigence. So little hope both for both parties. Ignorance is a sad thing to observe.
  • Reginald Pennypacker III
    Ryan,
    .
    Please stop posting. Your posts are of no value. Nor are you. You may want to consider suicide.
  • Many of us in the pro-Israel activist community in the Bay Area are entirely unconvinced that his death was an accident.

    The circumstances outlined are so unlikely that they cannot be believed without questioning. And the hatred that Dan was subject to, by so many members of the pro-Palestinian side in Northern California, was so venomous, and so often threatening, that him being found dead in a building which anti-Israel activists are known to visit daily, is ab initio suspect.

    Until the SFPD conclusively proves that this was accidental, we will continue to inist that it was an opportunistic hate-crime.
  • Erin
    I met Dan in 2001 as part of an article about Critical Mass for the Webster U Journal. I remembering him teasing me because I brought my bike in the back of my car for my ride. He taught me a lot that night and was extremely gracious in "breaking me in" to the group. His death is a huge loss.
  • Ryan
    Reginald,

    why don't you stop reading this blog and please stop posting. Nothing you say provides any insight into urban issues perhaps stltoday.com forums are more your speed.
  • Reginald Pennypacker III
    Critical Mass? The group who disrupts traffic and climbs one cars, putting big dents in them? (This happened in Portland, OR).
    .
    That Critical Mass?
    .
    If so, no loss.
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