In a message dated 97-09-13 09:40:47 EDT, suchak@mediaone.net writes:
<< (Who appointed *you* List Monitor anyway?!?) >>
It was Siegfried Bettmann, founder of the Triumph Company; Jack Ridley, who
drove the class winning Triumph in the 1935 Monte Carlo Rally; Howe Grahm
who saved the company after WWII; Sir John Black ,who directed the company
through Triumph's developmental years; Ken Richardson, who was instrumental
in developing Triumph as a true sporting marque; Maurice Gatsonides, driver
for Triumph in the 1954 Mille Miglia; Simo Lampiner, driver of the prototype
1296 Spitfire rally car in the 1965 Alpine Rally; and finally Sue Cuff, the
noted model and television show hostess who appeared in publicity shots in
1977 for the Spitfire.
They came as a group. Sue Cuff acted as spokesperson. They gathered around
me as I sat at my computer terminal checking my mail. In the grey early
morning light they appeared as they actually were, ghosts and reminders of
another era. Sue Cuff spoke in a clear, ringing voice as the others nodded
their heads in affirmation as she spoke . You can imagine my abject terror
as they pressed in around me here in my small library, surrounded by Triumph
books and memorabilia. She pointed directly at the computer screen and an
E-Mail of Cars to Hate which appeared there.
She said to me, 'That is an abomination, besmirching the Triumph list, you
must act now, for the good of the Marque we all loved. YOU ARE THE MONITOR OF
THE LIST the entire group spoke as one in a thunderous roar as they pointed
at me, then vanished into the cold grey morning light as quickly as they
appeared.
Now I ask you, as one completely rational person to another. What would YOU
have done in my shoes ? I had to act. I was terrified they would return and
bring along Walter Belgrove and Donald Healey and Maurice Newham, and
Mauritz Schulte and maybe even the bloddy elephant that Bettmann posed with
alongside a Triumph Fifteen in Ceylon in 1926 . How would you like to have
an elephant in your library? It would surely wake the children. Believe me,
I was absolutely compelled to become, for this single purpose and occasion
ONLY, the monitor of the list.
Today in the warm midday sun, with the spectral images of the past now gone,
I sit at my terminal, uncaring as to the content of the list. Participating
as the spirit moves me. I hope you understand. I hope you find it possible
to dig deep in the well of forgiveness and I hope you find more Triumph
related topics in the future.
Bob Paul
Corrales NM
TS71101 L STC 62
TS 45738 L O
TS7280 L
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