MIAMI — The founder of the popular South Florida gay travel and entertainment website Mark’s List died Friday after he was struck by a pickup truck and two other vehicles as he crossed U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys.
Mark Haines, 54, was taking part in a bicycle race called SmartRide from Miami to Key West. The annual event raises funds for AIDS Service Organizations in the state of Florida.
The Miami Herald reported that in announcing Haines’ death on the Mark’s List website, nephew Matthew Haines said his uncle died “after the best day and the best ride of his life.”
Haines, of Fort Lauderdale, launched the popular Mark’s List website after moving to South Florida in 2003 to take a job with the Nielsen ratings company.
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Bored with gathering statistics, he started hunting around the Internet for things to do, he told South Florida Gay News in 2012. His own appetite for entertainment inspired Mark’s List, which grew from free suggestions about events and places to a popular subscription site.
“He had a great passion for digital media,” said former publishing parter Bobby Blair. “A real champion of South Florida was taken way too soon.”
