SARASOTA, FL (BRAIN) — Shaun Jackson, a former bike industry designer who co-founded the Eclipse company in the 1970s, died Tuesday after being injured in a small plane crash here on Saturday.
The private plane's pilot was killed immediately after the plane crashed onto the New College of Florida campus soon after takeoff. Jackson, 63, suffered severe burns and died Tuesday according to AnnArbor.com. Jackson was a professor in the School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Jackson co-founded Eclipse with Leslie Bohm. Eclipse made bike touring accessories including panniers and also had a line of motorcycle soft luggage. After leaving Eclipse, Jackson started his own design firm, Shaun Jackson Design.
According to his university biography, Jackson holds “more than 50 patents and has received national and international honors, including the prestigious IDEA award from Business Week.”
His firm Shaun Jackson Design Inc. “serves clients such as Apple Computer, Dell, Toshiba, General Electric Medical Systems, Herman Miller, Nike, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Harley Davidson, and Patagonia,” the biography said.
Jackson was in the bike industry when a handful of U.S. brands — including Blackburn, Rhode Gear, Specialized, Cannondale, Hind and Eclipse — were bringing a new level of design and marketing to the industry, remembers former Eclipse employee Mark Graff. "We had spirited but friendly competition," said Graff, now with Smartetailing.
Specialized founder and president Mike Sinyard recalled Jackson as being at the center of that community.
"He was really a great designer and he always had such a great way about him," Sinyard told BRAIN on Wednesday. "I remember when I was starting off in the business and he was always very kind to me and would give me different advice about how to do things and how to design things. He was always such a thoughtful guy with a big view of the world and always would have time for people."
