Bill Boddy, RIP

[Amazo]

Surprised you've only found out now; BB was an incredible walking encyclopedia of motoring history and a free thinker, to boot. He and LJK Setright are the two main idols I have when it comes to motoring journalism.

[Amazo]

Quite a delay in posting an obituary; he had passed away back in July.

 

http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/2011/07/07/bill-boddy-mbe-1913-2011/

[stuboy]

rip..

[Station]

I loved his bird watching shit.

[andrew e]

I know its not a popular opinion, but he was the main reason I rarely bought motorsport magazine. Not a patch on the Rabbi.

[flat4alfa]

So who's going to do Autumnwatch then?

 

Kate Humble's going to be bereft.

[Amazo]

Have some Brooklands photos (courtesy of AS alumni Seth's post on another forum). Boddy was the definitive author on the place and its where he started his career.

 

 

 

 

 

There has probably never been such a long working career in any field: Boddy’s first article was in Motor Sport in 1930, an amazing 81 years ago. WB saw both Nuvolari and Vettel race, knew Caracciola, Hawthorn and Clark, and tested Austin Sevens when they were brand-new. He turned Motor Sport from a tiny specialist title into a major player with great influence in the motoring world, and its continued existence is his legacy.

After the war, WB recruited a short, scruffy motorcycle racer called Denis Jenkinson to provide race reports, and this pairing provided the alchemy that made the magazine buzz. "I didn't know he could write," says Boddy, "but he just knew so much about cars." It was a brilliant gamble. Jenks was not only immersed in racing, he was also a blunt speaker. The two of them earned a name for plain speaking that sometimes earned a test car ban from an aggrieved manufacturer.

 

When you say Bill Boddy, Jenk's name isn't far behind. Another of my motoring idols.

[warren t claim]

The passing of W.B has given me the same sense of sadness I felt with the death of Letter From America writer Alistair Cooke in 2004. Both were writers that served as a living link to important historical events.

 

It's sad that I'm a Radio 4 listener isn't it?

[warren t claim]

Know what you mean, WTC. Like when I got to meet and shake hands with Jesse Owens and Buckminster Fuller... now there's 2 names never used in the same sentence before!

 

Your six degrees of separation would make interesting reading T.B!

[Amazo]

Know what you mean, WTC. Like when I got to meet and shake hands with Jesse Owens and Buckminster Fuller... now there's 2 names never used in the same sentence before!

Your six degrees of separation would make interesting reading T.B!

Dang straight it would. Wow.

Does beg the (tangental) question TB: are you a member of Mensa, or are they too lowbrow to be considered?

[gricer]

WB was the last of the pre-war motoring hacks. Most of them lived to a ripe old age thanks to expertly pickled livers. I met Gordon Wilkins on several occasions - a man who covered the launch of the VW Beetle, meeting "Mr Hitler" at the 1939 Berlin Motor Show. He died in 2007, and was working until very close to the end of his life. I've shaken the hand that shook the hand of Hitler - there's one degree of separation for you!

 

Sonme extraordinary pix here

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4794140048_e752200cb0_b.jpg

[Alpineandy]

I know its not a popular opinion, but he was the main reason I rarely bought motorsport magazine. Not a patch on the Rabbi.

 

Quite a widely held view.

But not P.C. to mention!