Entertainment
Disability played no role in man’s death after riding Universal roller coaster, lawyers say
Lawyers representing the family of a 32-year-old man who died after riding on a Universal Orlando Resort roller coaster said he likely died as a result of an injury incurred during the ride and that his disability played no role in his death.
Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, who had a spinal disability and used a wheelchair, became unresponsive while on the coaster last week at the recently opened Epic Universe theme park in Florida. He was transported to a local hospital and later died.
Attorneys for Zavala’s family said Monday they believe he hit his head on a restraint during the coaster’s downward thrusts and that he was unconscious for most of the ride. He had no medical issues before boarding the ride, they said.
Natalie Jackson, another of the family’s attorneys, said they believe Zavala suffered repeated head strikes based on what witnesses have said. “His disability did not kill him,” Jackson said. “It was the blunt force trauma.”
The medical examiner for the Orlando area ruled the cause of death as multiple blunt impact injuries and said the manner of death was an accident.
At a news conference in Orlando, the lawyers also took issue with a top Universal executive last weekend saying in a note to employees that “internal findings” showed the ride worked as it should have.
“They are quick to say that, ‘Well, the ride functioned as it was supposed to. Everything works properly.’ Well, just because it didn’t malfunction does not lead us to believe that there were not safety issues because we know something caused him to die,” said famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump, whose law firm is representing the family.
Karen Irwin, Universal Orlando Resort’s president, said in her note that the internal findings showed ride systems functioned normally, equipment was intact and Universal workers followed the proper procedures. Investigators with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said on September 19 that their initial findings align with that of the theme park.
The roller coaster remains closed as Universal conducts a comprehensive review of the ride with its manufacturer.
“Safety is, and always will be, at the forefront of everything we do,” Irwin said.
The ride involved in Zavala’s death, called Stardust Racers, is a dual-launch coaster that reaches speeds up to 62 mph.
Epic Universe was the first major theme park to open in Florida in more than 25 years when it welcomed visitors just before Memorial Day weekend
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis enjoyed a lovely pre-Christmas day out in Norfolk with their mum, Princess Kate, it has been revealed.
On Tuesday, December 23, the Princess of Wales took Charlotte, 10, and Louis, 7, to watch the Christmas Spectacular at Thursford. However, the eldest Wales child and future heir to the throne, 12-year-old Prince George, was apparently not in attendance, nor was his father, Prince William.
The trio’s attendance was confirmed in an Instagram post made last week by Lloyd Hollett, who appears in this year’s production.
Alongside a photo of the blue-lit stage, he wrote, “What a day… Today we were honoured by the presence of Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, alongside Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who attended our matinee performance.”
No official photos were released of the royals inside the venue as it was a private family outing instead of a public engagement. The future queen and her children reportedly watched the show from a royal box.
The Christmas Spectacular is a three-hour festive show featuring a mix of singing, dancing, and more. With a high production value and a cast of 130 performers, the show is one of the largest and most beloved Christmas events in Europe.
The event runs annually from November 8 to December 23, which means that Kate, Charlotte, and Louis managed to catch the final show.
By Washington Post book critic Ron Charles
2025 offered a feast of great books. To help build your never-ending reading list, here are five titles we particularly enjoyed over the past 12 months:
Simon & Schuster
Lucas Schaefer’s debut novel, “The Slip” (Simon & Schuster), won this year’s Kirkus Prize for Fiction. The story takes place in and around a boxing gym in Austin, Texas, where two lonely teenagers are eager to remake their identities wherever that might lead them.
This sweaty comic masterpiece tackles our most pressing social debates, and delivers a knockout.
Read an excerpt: “The Slip” by Lucas Schaefer
“The Slip” by Lucas Schaefer (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Sourcebooks Landmark 
Susie Dent’s debut novel, “Guilty by Definition” (Sourcebooks Landmark), introduces a dictionary editor in Oxford who begins receiving strange messages about her sister’s long-ago disappearance.
As she follows these clues, she is led into literary puzzles and unresolved parts of her past. Readers who savor wordplay as much as suspense should look up this clever mystery.
Read an excerpt: “Guilty by Definition” by Susie Dent
“Guilty by Definition” by Susie Dent (Sourcebooks Landmark), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Riverhead Books 
“Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State” (Riverhead Books), by Caleb Gayle, traces the rise of Edward McCabe through Kansas and the Oklahoma Territory as Black migrants pursued land, safety and power in the Jim Crow era.
Confronting hostile politics and violent resistance, McCabe fought for community and self-determination, and Gayle lays out this charged landscape to reveal a crucial but long-obscured chapter in the struggle for freedom.
Read an excerpt: “Black Moses” by Caleb Gayle
“Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State” by Caleb Gayle (Riverhead Books), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
calebgayle.com (Official site)
Knopf 
Karen Russell’s “The Antidote” (Knopf) is a dazzlingly original novel that hovers between fable and history.
This wild tempest of a tale set in Depression-era Nebraska follows a prairie witch and a high school girl swept up into a tumultuous western epic about the tragedies and ambitions of Manifest Destiny.
Read an excerpt: “The Antidote” by Karen Russell
“The Antidote” by Karen Russell (Knopf), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Crown 
Rick Atkinson’s “The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780” (Crown), the second book in his planned trilogy, delivers a chronicle of the American Revolution with irresistible narrative drive.
Moving between battles and diplomacy, he brings Washington, Franklin and their rivals to life while tracing the nation’s fight for independence. The result is an immersive work of history just in time for America’s 250th anniversary.
Read an excerpt: “The Fate of the Day” by Rick Atkinson
“The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 (Volume Two of the Revolution Trilogy)” by Rick Atkinson (Crown), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Historian Rick Atkinson (Official site)
Rick Atkinson on how the U.S. Army was born – and a free nation realized (“Sunday Morning”)
That’s it for the Book Report. It’s been great fun to talk to you about good books over the past year. Here’s to many more in 2026.
I’m Ron Charles. Until next time, read on!
For more info:
For more reading recommendations, check out our library of previous Book Report features from Ron Charles:
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