On Sunday, November 6th legendary San Francisco author and artist Paul Madonna was driving home in his SmartCar through McLaren Park when he was struck head-on by a Mercedes Benz driving in the wrong lane at approximately 65 mph.   Witnesses of the crash reported that the Mercedes then fled the scene.  The crash occurred less than a mile from the Madonna’s home.

Luckily an ambulance was called right away, along with his wife Joen who also rushed to the scene of the accident, and Paul was taken to SF General Hospital which has the finest emergency trauma unit in the city.  The crash caused injuries to his liver, spleen, stomach, and several other major internal organs, he also broke his nose, injured his shoulder, and shattered his right heel. the level 1 trauma emergency doctor described it as “an impressive level of injuries.” Paul is expected to make a full recovery, but he has a long, long road ahead.

Thankfully, Paul’s drawing hand was miraculously not injured, which is small piece of good news.

As of Monday (November 14th) Paul’s chest tube was taken out and he was taken off his epidural from surgery, his wife Joen Madonna tells us he sat up and in his chair to eat for the first time this week and that his condition is stable!  She added that Paul is “incredibly strong,” and that the “love and support from the community is beyond measure.”

Paul will likely be in a wheelchair for the next few months, as well as need his home to be modified to accommodate a wheelchair, an adjustable bed, etc, there’s also plenty of rehab to worry about on top of him not being to work.  His injuries are extensive, serious, and will most likely not allow him to work for months.

Friends of Paul including Kate Patterson (Dir. Communications SF Public Library), have set up a GoFundMe for his recovery fund.  Please donate if you can!

Why Paul Madonna is an SF Local Legend

No illustrator has given more to our city or is more identified with San Francisco than Paul Madonna. In many ways he is San Franciso’s contemporary portrait artist, we at BAS had the great pleasure of publishing Paul’s All Over Coffee: THE EVICTION SERIES from 2014 -2016 on BrokeStuart.com.  Where he documented the hard years of mass evictions (including his own) that were spiking in San Francisco at the time.

His illustrative series All Over Coffee ran in the San Francisco Chronicle for over a decade and spawned several bestselling books published by City Lights Bookstore (they look dope on San Francisco Coffee table get yours here.)  He’s won more awards for his art and authorship than we can count, and we need him to recover so we can keep inhaling his prose and imagery of San Francisco and beyond!

Virtual Art Studio Tours by ArtSpan featuring Paul Madonna

Paul’s wife, Joen Madonna is the Director of ArtSpan, the non-profit arts organization that does incredible work around supporting and training hundreds of artists in the Bay Area, not mention organises SFOpen Studios along with tons of other great art-centric events in the Bay Area.

Donate to Paul Madonna Recovery Fund: Here