Patricia Calhoun Remembers Westword Co-Founder Sandy Widener

january 3, 2008  08:39 am
"Sandy was fresh from Texas, a tiny blonde in even tinier hot pants, with a big personality," the current Westword editor says of Widener, who she first met at Cornell in the '70s. Widener, who died with her husband and one of her daughters in a car accident late last month, went on to co-found the Denver alt-weekly with Calhoun and Rob Simon. "With each reminiscence," Calhoun says, "I keep wanting to reach for the phone to call Sandy, to utter a few words and be rewarded with a shriek. I'll get several numerals into the call before I suddenly remember that she's gone." There will be a service for Sandy, her husband John, and their daughter Chase in a few weeks in Denver, when daughter Katy, who was spared in the accident, is well enough to attend. In the meantime, a memorial site has been set up at johnsandychase.muchloved.com.