When the news broke Sunday that Jack Mangan, a 54-year-old Cornelius resident and business executive, had died when his T-28 aircraft crashed during a performance at a West Virginia air show, the first thought for Talkers was, “Who knew?”

Sure, plenty of friends knew all about the retired Air Force pilot, who had been flying for five years with the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Trojan Horsemen demonstration team. But to the rest of us, Mangan wasn’t the flyer who went by the handle, “Flash.” He was just another guy we might have bumped into piloting a cart in the grocery aisle or a more conventional vehicle at a stoplight.

Talkers love to learn about our neighbors. We just hate to do it this way.