Kurt Vonnegut, who has died in New York aged 84, wrote plays, essays and short fiction. But it was his novels that became classics of the American counterculture, making him a literary idol, particularly to students in the 1960s and '70s.
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Nice shot above from photographer William K. Gommel, Jr.
Nice hearing from you and are you quick...I just saw my fire suit photo on the site. I spent some time last night at your site and it brought back many memories. Did you race at Oswego?
Bob Doss was the one who gave me my "assignments" for the magazine. The standard routine was he would tell me what cars he wanted me to feature and then I would do shots of the cars in the pits, one of car and driver, several of the engine, interior, various shots of cars (side, back, etc) and then action of burn outs and leaving the line. These would be developed and printed and turned in the next Sunday to be published in the track newspaper.
- William K. Gommel, Jr.
Every time I make a pass in the car I feel that I am endangering my life. - Mike Sorokin, 1965
Hi Jay: Why was the drag strip closed. I attended in 1978 for the last time . I believe I was misinformed at the fest yesterday by a woman vendor that the track was closed in1981. I thought it was1979. Why does it still remain closed? With the exploding popularity in recent years I would think that should be a possibility. I am a lifelong fan of drag racing and car shows alike, and enjoy your website. - Willliam Leleika
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Sadly...
He once joked: "I'm suing a cigarette company because on the package they promised to kill me, and yet here I am." - Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, born in 1922 in Indianapolis, IN, attended Cornell University before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, where as a prisoner of war he witnessed the bombing of Dresden, Germany, an event which became the basis for his famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five. He died on April 11, 2007.
After World War II, Vonnegut got married, studied Anthropology at the University of Chicago, and worked as a police reporter for the Chicago News Bureau. He later worked as a publicist for General Electric in Schenectady, NY before leaving to become a full time writer.
Vonnegut taught creative writing at Harvard in 1970, received a Master's degree from the University of Chicago for Cat's Cradle in 1971 and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature by Hobart and William Smith College in 1974. Mark Flanagan
NHRA Funny Car driver Eric Medlen dies after test crash
NHRA driver Eric Medlen died from a severe head injury after crashing during a
test run at Gainesville Raceway four days earlier.
By Bill Stephens 03/23/07 7:35 pm et
Finally...
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Guilty verdict in Thompson murder case
Former business partner Michael Goodwin faces life without parole in the deaths of the racing legend and his wife.
Collene Campbell arrived in court Thursday wearing the St. Christopher medal her brother, slain racing legend Mickey Thompson, wore during his races. It lay over a diamond necklace her mother gave her on her deathbed 11 years ago, asking Campbell not to take it off until her brother's killer was brought to justice.
On Thursday, after nearly 19 years, 74-year-old Campbell was released from those mystic bonds.
A Pasadena jury convicted Michael Goodwin of murdering his former racing-promoter partner and Thompson's wife, Trudy, in 1988, thus writing the climactic chapter in one of Los Angeles County's most enduring murder mysteries.
"I wish I could look up and touch Mickey and Trudy and say, 'We won!' " Campbell said after the verdict, her eyes welling with tears. Later she waved a black-and-white checkered racing flag in triumph.
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