We've lost David E Davis and Jerry Flint in one year!

[Hudson]

In less than one year, we've lost David E and Jerry Flint....add in the losses of Beverly Rae Kimes, Fred Roe, Stanley Stephenson, and Taylor Vinson...the worlds of automotive journalists and automotive historians are noticably less well stocked. If you don't know who they are (I assume you know the first two names), look them up and start reading.

http://automotivetraveler.com/jump/2994

"Freedom and Whiskey!"

[SAmadei]

Didn't realize Davis passed a few days ago.

Most of my reading of Davis E Davis Jr was after 1983 at C&D, and I never really got into it. After he left C&D, the C&D editors were not kind about his idiosyncrasies. I didn't care for the tone of Automobile magazine, and rarely read it. The recent overhaul at C&D brought him back, and his writings seemed more appealing to me, but I wasn't happy with the rest of the C&D overhaul, so I wondered if its just easy to shine there.

That said, I still have the deepest respect for a writer with his lasting stamp on the automotive landscape. I can only imagine that I simply was not in sync with his viewpoints or style, and I probably would have fallen in line with a few more years of indoctrination. I had know about much of his history, or so I thought, as I really only was aware of a small portion of it, so I recommend anyone too young to be into Davis to read at least his Wikipedia entry.

A quote I from wiki: Davis likened General Motors managers to the piano player in a whorehouse, "aware of what was going on upstairs but unable to do much about it even if they were so inclined."

One of my favorite Davis moments was when he send a bunch of C&D writers to drive through Mexico. A total disaster, but also a telling litmus test for automotive reliability in the early '80s. And the final article was entertaining, hilarious and memorable, even nearly 30 years later.

Goodbye David, the automotive and journalist world will deeply miss you.

[Hudson]

I, too, was not immediately taken in by Mr Davis and his work. His picture just always seemed to be in the magazines I read. I guess it was when we were introduced that I realized I was judging his book by his cover. When we spoke, he was very nice to me and provided excellent insight from his 50+ years of experience. I'm glad to have a signed copy of his book and I don't expect his like to be repeated anytime soon.

[Robert Hall]

It was sad to hear of DED Jr's passing..I've been a subscriber to C&D since '77, and Automobile since '86..always enjoyed his insights and musings on all things automotive...I'll have to go back and read his book again. He was all over the place w/ car mags, in Motor Trend for a while and more recently Winding Road.

[bobo]

Just over 25 years ago, some of my favorite writers from Car and Driver disappeared, and I didn't know what happened until Automobile Magazine was introduced soon thereafter. That year, Automobile Magazine had a long table at the L.A. Auto Show, and I saw DED sitting there. I approached a lady at the table and asked if they were giving away magazines. She said they were selling subscriptions. I then approached DED and told him I enjoyed his new magazine. He said that he got a kick whenever he was recognized, and then the lady said that DED would autograph a magazine if I subscribed. I've been a subscriber ever since.

This is the passing of a legend, and there won't be anyone of his stature again anytime soon.