Sandra Widener, who started the Denver alt-weekly in 1977 with Patricia Calhoun and Rob Simon, died on Saturday when the vehicle her family was in skidded out of control and a tractor trailer slammed into the driver's side, the Denver Post reports. She was 53 years old. Her husband, Democratic political consultant John Parr, and one of their two daughters also died in the crash. Their 17-year-old daughter is expected to leave the hospital today, according to the Rocky Mountain News. "Their house became a focal point for the neighborhood, and the world. Their friends included everybody," Calhoun tells the Post. "They always had students in from other countries. It was just a nonstop party." The News also reports that three drivers have been charged with driving too fast for conditions in the chain-reaction crash.
