[PLMerite]

“John Denver ran out of gas...”

I heard he was trying to switch tanks, the control for which was over one shoulder, and accidentally gave too much rudder.

[USNBandit]

John Denver was flying a long EZ.

In this picture you can see the airplane in its "parked" position with the nose gear folded. My understanding from a friend that flies one is that you start the airplane on a little primer tank when the nose is down and then when you lift the nose and unfold the nose wheel you are supposed to switch tanks. It is quite common for pilots to forget this step. What killed Denver was that the previous owner had moved the valve to a place you couldn't easily access when flying. Not to the design spec.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I heard he was trying to switch tanks, the control for which was over one shoulder, and accidentally gave too much rudder.

Correct. But, he ran out of gas because he didn't stick the tanks before take-off --pilot error.

Another little-known tidbit is that he had been convicted of drunk-driving the year before and as is usually the case, had been ordered by the FAA to surrender his medical certificate. (one half of a pilot's license, the other being the airman's certificate)

This means that at the time of his fatal accident he had been grounded and was flying illegally.

The accident report is online if you're interested in reading the details. (See: Close-Up: The John Denver Crash)