Ed Flanagan, a former state senator and state auditor who was in a debilitating car accident in 2005 died Friday, according to Rep. Mary Sullivan (D-Burlington), a longtime friend.
Flanagan, 66, had been living in recent years in a New Hampshire nursing home.
As a Democratic state senator representing Chittenden County from 2005-2011 and as state auditor from 1993-2001, Flanagan was known for his ardent liberal views. He was the first openly gay statewide elected official in the country. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2000 against incumbent Jim Jeffords, who was then a Republican.
Sullivan, who met Flanagan when they were in their 20s, said she remembered him as a loyal friend who was good at telling jokes. She was on her way to visit Flanagan, who she knew was failing, when he died, she said.
Flanagan suffered from a traumatic brain injury and physical ailments as the result of the November 2005 crash. He had been on his way home from Montpelier wh
en his car slid off Interstate 89 in Richmond and into a ravine. He hung upside down in subfreezing temperatures for 18 hours before being rescued. He spent three weeks in a coma.
At the time, his older brother, Robert, called his recovery “miraculous.” Flanagan returned to the legislature in 2006 and was twice reelected to serve two-year terms.
Though Flanagan functioned well at times, he also struggled physically and mentally.
In 2009, he was accused of masturbating in the Greater Burlington YMCA men’s wellness center. No criminal charges were filed, but Flanagan did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2010.
In recent months, Flanagan had been using a wheelchair and his health was in decline, Sullivan said. He is survived by his partner, Isaac Lustgarten. His family plans to hold a memorial service in Burlington, Sullivan said.
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For days I have watched this article and monitored the online comments. I am one of those who has come to depend on Seven Days over your digital Vermont news competitor, who has a tendency to be sensationalist in their delivery of the news. This article seems to have been written for that other online news site, not for the classy Seven Days we all have come to expect.
What shocks me most is that after all these comments and responses to the comments, here it is Monday morning and Seven Days hasn’t seen fit to remove that portion of the article.
This may be the last week I read Seven Days…
You should be ashamed. How disrespectful- not only to a family in mourning but to a man who dedicated his life to public service. Slanderous and irresponsible. Do better.
Delete this trash. So disrespectful both to a family in mourning and a man who dedicated his life to public service. You should be ashamed.
Ed was an ally and one of the early ones to be out. He had the moral courage that the best gay men develop from a life on the margins.
What on Earth was the motivating factor behind including that piece of info. What an amazingly low point.
I love to read Seven Days, but in regards to this sad news about this wonderful man, I am a little ashamed of you right now Terri Hallenbeck.
An amazing friend who stood by me and supported me when I needed him the most. He was brilliant and a lot of fun.
I agree with Doug Hoffer. Gratuitous. Ed suffered from a TBI, a disabling condition that affected his personality and actions. Ed should be remembered for his compassion and dedication to public service.
I agree Doug Hoffer, tasteless and may I add ignorant. TBI can be an invisible injury. Thankful for Ed Flanagan’s dedication and public service. Period.
What a sad day. Ed was smart and principled, and he enjoyed a good laugh. Like many others who seek high office, he was ambitious. But he was genuinely concerned about our less fortunate neighbors and believed that government should be a force for good and operate efficiently. He had some eccentricities and often fought with the Governor (they both liked to mix it up), but he tried to move the State Auditors Office into the 21st Century. My heart goes out to his family and friends.
Finally, I think the mention of the post-accident events at the YMCA was tasteless and gratuitous. Ed suffered traumatic brain injuries. He just died. Let it go.