Gray spun some wonderful worlds about the salt... I looked forward each
year to his article on Bonneville.
It was through Gray that I learned of a car named the Tom Thumb Special,
about some guy named Al Teague who was Pretty fast and a bunch of other
little guy racers.... ( most had Roadsters... Seems the fella was partial )
I've had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions... two of which
are memorable... the first time was at a hot dog stand at the 50th running
of speedweek.... I was a spectator and totally in awe of the whole deal....
I sat down at this table and started chatting with some guy named Tex? he
introduced me to his buddy Ak.... and we got to talking about my fascination
with the sport and how this was the first time I had seen it in person....
I'd mentioned something about only getting to read about it in Hot Rod
through Gray's words.... and Tex said " Hey you want to meet him " Grabbed
Gray's arm and sat him down with us to eat a Dog and listen to Tex tell us
some story about having an Old Healey and Spanking Donald Healey's butt on
the Nurnenburg ring in Germany in the late 50's.... Gray sat and
listened... laughed and fiddled with his Camera.... all the while flipping
his Flip Flops....
I met him 7-8 months later at Hot Rod's Powerfest in Rockingham only this
time I had the Camaro sitting in Holley's Booth showing off the new Systemax
II package we had just set a record with the day before at Maxton. Gray
snapped some Pictures of me and the car saying at the time not to expect to
see it in Hot Rod as it wasn't really what they were looking for. ( a bit
brutal but honest )
Paul in speaking of the Future.... my car did get a 1" X 2" picture in the
event coverage because some young guy saw an LSR car on the dyno and snapped
a picture of it. ( I'm not sure if it was Dave Frieburger or not but I'd
like to think it was ) Dave will carry the torch well into the Future...
and Will Handzel is another young writer who loves the sport. We are in
good hands but we will miss the old one's...
Rest in peace Gray...
Keith Turk
----- Original Message -----
From: "Louise Ann Noeth" <lanoeth@earthlink.net>
To: "Landspeed" <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2002 8:41 PM
Subject: Death of HOT ROD Giant
> It's a(nother) sad day in the journalism business . . . and for Bonneville
> fans as well.
>
> Gray Baskerville passed away this morning, peacefully. His spinal cancer
> was diagnosed only last fall. His wife, Susan, and only child, Elizabeth,
> were with him. No service is planned. Gray was 66.
>
> He was a friend to the salt when the salt needed a pal at HOT ROD and
became
> one of the best-known hot-rodding photojournalist in the hobby.
>
> He gave me my name, "LandSpeed" Louise, more than 20 years ago when I
occupied
> a 7th floor Petersen Publishing office overlooking Sunset Boulevard and
made a
> habit of setting speed records on the staircases -- shoeless, no less.
>
> He had a passion for the sport that never waned. Words and pictures were
his
> business and with those tools he gave life to an otherwise mundane page.
> Although his words could sometimes stretch the factual realm, Gray's
> expressions of edgy, razor-sharp commentary were envied by many, but
equaled
> by few.
>
> "Basketcase," or "Grayville" as he was sometimes called, was also the king
of
> flip-flop shower shoes, wearing them everywhere and were as much part of
his
> persona as the cigar was to Groucho Marx. At Bonneville, his uniform was
> simple, a HOT ROD T-shirt (in later years, he upscaled to one with a
collar),
> baggy shorts and
> pith helmet. I'd almost bet the racers smiled at him in their helmets as
they
> went by.
>
> Armed with a simple 35mm camera, no motor drive, no flash, no fancy
filters
> and giant gear bag, he would annually bring back great images of those who
did
> great deeds. Until recently, it was he who had to fight the front-office
> "suits" that turned up their noses at land speed racing. Baskerville made
sure
> Speedweek got some ink every year and in the little space they
begrudgingly
> gave him, he kept the torch burning on the pages that owes its very
existence
> to the straight-line velocity crowd.
>
> If hot rods have wings, make his a '32 highboy on '29 rails.
>
> Be Vigilant,
>
> "LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth
>
> LandSpeed Productions
> Telling Stories with Words and Pictures
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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