Gary Eisenberg update

I'm attempting to write this thread at my computer work station the day after meeting and talking to Gary Eisenbergs wife Mona, son Paul and his wife Becca. I have been so moved by the warmth of Gary's family, that I'm having a hard time thinking about anything else today, therefore I will try and share my thoughts of the past 24 hours with you .

As all of you surely know, Gary Eisenberg was killed last Saturday evening in Monterey (about 3-4 miles from my house), when his Enzo crashed into a tree and caught fire with Gary inside of the car. He was pronuced dead at the scene.

Yesterday morning I went to the crash site to see for myself the location of this horrible tragedy. I was deeply moved by what I saw. There were flowers, and some small tokens of condolence surrounding the fragile Pine tree that abruptly ended the life of a remarkable human being. I studied the scene as if I was a CHP investigator or something, hoping to "connect the dots" so to speak. I don't know why, but it seemed important to me to resolve the cause of this unfortunate accident.

After about an hour I left and came home to talk to my wife about what I had seen. She was also curious about the cause of the accident and was even more concerned about the well-being of Gary's family. I don't remember ever meeting Gary or his family but I'm sure our paths crossed somewhere in our passions for Ferrari's. I then started to search the internet to find as much information as possible about Gary, his family, and the accident. One of the many things I read was right here on Fchat. It was a letter from Paul, Gary's son.

I'm going to try and explain what reading Paul's letter did to me, emotionally. He writes that his father "was his closest friend ". This one line of text hit me as hard as anything ever has, because I don't have a father I consider a close friend. My father and I haven't spoken in years, not because I haven't made numerous attempts to do so, but rather it's been his choice not to have a father & son relationship. I was also moved by the simple things Paul remembered about his father, like watching the Indy 500 with him when he was only 5 years old.

But the one thing that stands out that I CAN relate to, was his story about his dad and him at a Laguna Seca track day. His dad was so proud and excited about his son driving his Enzo around the track, that when Paul viewed the video later, not only could he hear the sound of him missing gears in the Enzo, he could also faintly hear in the background his dad giggling like a little kid. His dad's passion about Ferrari's was so great, that it didn't matter if he was driving one or his son was, as long as they both enjoyed the experience.

After reading as much as I could find about Gary, his family, and the accident, I wrote a short letter to Gary revealing a few thoughts of my own. I then went back to the accident site, this time with my wife, with the letter I wrote, to leave by the items left by others. She too was moved by the outpouring of condolence by friends and family, and proceeded to hang a silver prancing horse charm around the tree.

While we were there I tried to determine what exactly had happened to cause this accident, but wasn't successful. I have a few theories, but nothing substantial enough to write about. By all accounts Gary was a very good driver and not one to drive wreckless or careless. Even more not the type to put another vehicle or it's passengers in danger by driving at excessive speeds.

About the time we were getting ready to leave, a brown Suburban with numerous communication antenna's (Gary was a communications genius) pulled up and stopped. My wife and I went over to talk to the occupants, not knowing who they were. When the driver asked if we knew the person who was killed in the accident, I replied that I didn't directly know him, but should have. The driver was Paul, Gary's son. The passenger next to him was Mona, Gary's wife. And in the rear seat was Becca, Paul's wife.

After revealing who they were, I was at a loss for words. My language and vocabulary skills suddenly vanished as I started to converse with Gary's family, but then slowly returned as time went on. I can't possibly begin to explain to you how I was feeling at that moment. Whatever comes from my keyboard from now on is an attempt to re-create just how I felt.

(One thing I was told by his family and think is important to tell you, is that there wasn't any evidence of smoke in his lungs from the fire, so apparently his death wasn't the result of the fire. Thank God for this.)

After we talked about their relationship with this great man for awhile, Mona saw the paper I had written leaning against the tree and asked what it was. I explained to her that it was just a short note I had written earlier to Gary.

I handed the note to her and then they left. My wife and I got in my car and had to continue up the road to turn around to go home. When I got to a place I could turn around, there was the Eisenberg's Suburban parked next to the community mailboxes. When I drove up to turn around, Paul screamed "out of the car" to me. Not knowing what to expect as I exited my car, Paul came up, grabbed me and gave me the warmest embrace that I can ever remember receiving from anyone. As we stood there hugging each other, Mona was in the Suburban crying, as was my wife in my car. It was a wonderful but brief moment I will never ever forget.

Apparently Gary's wife, Mona, had read the note out loud as they were heading up to their mailbox, and was very moved by it's contents.

When I wrote the short letter to Gary earlier in the day, it was never intended to be read while I was present. I just wanted to express my feelings, in private, to a man who shared my passion for Ferrari's.

Paul, Mona, and Becca, I can only imagine what it must have been like to have such a wonderful man to share your life's experiences with.

He will always be there with you if only in spirit.

God bless him and you for the warmth you exhibited to myself and to my wife.
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Greg, the accident happened just a few feet off of the main road, as you can see in the picture below, that the family must travel to get to their home from hwy. 68.

I haven't heard anything about the cause of the accident so I won't assume or try and guess what actually happened. One thing I will say as I stated earlier, Gary didn't die from the fire as there wasn't any smoke from the fire in his lungs according to his family. So he must have either died on impact or shortly there after before the fire started. My understanding is that the car was burned very throughly. What I wonder, and haven't heard anything about, is if the car's exhaust started the dry grass under the car on fire, or if the fuel ignited causing the fire after impacting the tree.

Rgds.,

John
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