Batman Dies…..
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…..Long Live Batman!!!!
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Lenny Robinson, a Maryland man who spent his free time visiting sick kids while dressed as the Caped Crusader, died after being struck by a car on Sunday night. Robinson, who was 51, had pulled over to the side of a highway after his vehicle—a customized Batmobile—suffered engine trouble.
Lenny Robinson was a real-life caped crusader of the finest kind; may there be many more to replace him
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Robinson gained national fame in 2012, after a video of him getting pulled over by police while in character went viral. (He’d forgotten to replace his Batmobile’s fake plates with the real ones while driving, and jovially posed for pictures with the officers after the matter was cleared up.)
Working with the Washington-based Hope For Henry Foundation (http://www.hopeforhenry.org/), Robinson spent 13 years and apparently hundreds of thousands of dollars acting as Batman, visiting hospitals around the country, giving gifts to sick children and doling out gravel-voiced inspiration. He also volunteered for regular functions at his local firehouse, library, and basically anywhere else someone in a Batman suit could be expected to show up and make kids smile.
Mr. Robinson could have easily just cut a check to the Hope For Henry Foundation and sat poolside forgetting about a cause he just supported, like so many of us do (this writer being Exhibit A). But he took it upon himself to reach out to and visit kids who were ill, which is wrenching.
Let us hope that there will be other Batwomen and Batmen to replace Mr. Robinson and it’s safe to say that if there is a Bat Heaven, Mr. Robinson is there.
-I.M. Windee
