[il-talk] Fw: Article from Chicago Sun Times Metro 2012 04 06

[Don Gillmore]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online 
To: Donald Gillmore 
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2012 7:50 AM
Subject: Article from Chicago Sun Times Metro 2012 04 06


Blind bicyclist and his partner just want their stolen tandem bike back By STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter sesposito at suntimes.com April 6, 2012 6:06PM Updated: April 6, 2012 6:08PM There are times in life when Terry Gorman, who is blind, feels invisible. Like when he walks into an elevator, says 'hi,' and in the way of keep-to-themselves city folk no one replies. That's why the 63-year-old Edgewater resident's tandem bicycle, which he rides with his partner, Sheldon Atovsky, is hot pink so that Gorman is sure to be noticed. Unfortunately, thieves took notice of the bike Friday morning while it was locked up outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital. It's very upsetting, said Atovsky, 61, a retired DePaul University music professor. It's just so surprising. It was locked very carefully. That's perhaps an understatement. Atovsky and Gorman used four different locks to immobilize the bike and secure it to a low, wrought-iron fence on East Huron, while Gorman went to a doctor's appointment. When they returned less than two hours later, the bike and locks were gone stolen in daylight on a street where there's almost always a constant stream of patients, doctors and other hospital staff. The bike is worth about $3,800, Gorman said. Gorman and Atovsky have called their insurance company; they've filed a police report; they've checked with hospital security to make sure someone didn't confiscate the bike. They just want their bike back. Perhaps you've seen Atovsky and Gorman as Chicago Sun-Times photographer Al Podgorski did this week for a photograph that ran in Wednesday's edition riding along the lakefront. Last year, they logged 3,300 miles. I love the sound of the bicycle and the sound of the environment around us, said Gorman, who has been blind since birth and takes the back seat the stoker position. You hear birds, you hear the sound of the wind, you hear traffic along Lake Shore Drive. You hear golf balls hitting this and that. Perhaps you've heard Gorman's bicycle bell. It's part of a little game the couple play: Whenever someone waves or smiles at them along the lakefront, Atovsky takes notice and tells Gorman to ring his bell. Sheldon is someone who doesn't want to be noticed, Gorman explained. I want to be noticed. The missing bike is a C-Motion Scout, in a color that's technically called pearlescent magenta. The bike is about eight feet long and it has no fenders. If you see it, email Atovsky at s-atovsky at sbcglobal.net. This article is provided to you as a courtesy of NFB-NEWSLINE® Online for your sole use. The content of this E-mail is protected under copyright law, and is not to be distributed in any manner to others; infringement of our non-dissemination agreement is strictly prohibited. Allowing someone to have access to this material is in violation of the Terms of Use agreement that you electronically signed when you signed up for NFB-NEWSLINE® Online. Please do not forward this E-mail or its attachments to any other person or disseminate it in any manner. Thank you. The NFB-NEWSLINE® Team.