Bill Connell, Carpinteria’s eminently likable purveyor of hot dogs, was found dead Friday morning in his home. Close friend Margaret Landreau said Connell, 61, apparently died overnight in his sleep.
Known throughout the area as the Hot Dog Man, Connell served up an array of franks and sausages – with additions such as chili and sauerkraut – at his All-American Surf Dog stand near the Bailard Avenue exit from Highway 101. He started the business 24 years ago because he missed the street vendors that were part of his life growing up in New Jersey and New York.
Connell also was known as an advocate for military veterans. He crusaded for the state to recognize a provision in the California constitution that exempts honorably discharged veterans who work as vendors from paying sales taxes. The legislature affirmed his position in 2009, and a bill was passed in 2014 to compensate Connell and other veterans.