There were two failure points. I suspect that the spoke ripped out or sheared at the screw that goes into the nipple. When I stopped the bike (in about 5 seconds) I looked down and saw that the spoke was folded over 180 degrees (cracked but still holding together by the fibers) near the hub about an inch outside of the black spoke spoke holders.
I couldn't ride the bike at all with the spoke flopping around so I worked to remove the broken piece of the spoke and opened up the brakes all the way so that I could at least continue on to search for a replacement wheel.
Since I didn't see it happen, I'm assuming that the screw sheared/ripped out and then the spoke folded over the first few wheel revolutions before I could stop the bike.
Insightdriver:
The wheel wasn't all that loose and the ride quality didn't feel different to me so I didn't consider it a problem. A friend with Topolinos said that his rear wheel did the same thing. I asked a mechanic in my LBS and he said that it was "within spec". The looseness was at the hub, not the spokes. I don't know if it had anything to do with the screw on the end of the spoke shearing/pulling out but I doubt it.
Thanks for the 'ounce of prevention' dig. Please don't talk down to me.
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