rich k

Sorry, but I am not a hot rodder or custom guy. I have an interest based originally on my four-Sunday-long adventure with Kenny Howard - "Von Dutch." As a freelance photographer who had built up a small portfolio of painted cars and dragsters since arriving in LA in 1966, I was asked by the Los Angeles Times to shoot a story about Dutch. I spent four consecutive Sundays with him and his family in Calabasas producing the West Magazine cover story that came out on May 24, 1970. I am happy every time I talk to someone who still has that issue, and there are many.

In Issue Number 36 of Rodders Journal, a selection of those photos was published with a story by Thom Taylor. And in April of 2007, Motorbooks released the book of most of the photos I shot back in 1970, titled "Sundays With Von Dutch." With text by Tony Thacker, and a little by me.

So I am not a hot rodder, much as I regret not having become one when I was younger and healthier. If any of you attended the auction of many of Dutch’s things in 2007 at the Petersen Museum, you probably saw me there. I was invited by the auction company to come and display the globe of the Moon that I had purchased from Rand McNally and brought with me one of those Sundays for Dutch to do something with. What he did was a spectacular tour de force of perfectly symmetrical freehand arcs. I have had it all these years and really enjoyed my time with it. Alas, my time is getting to the far end of the stick, and I need to find a home for it, as I have no heirs. So I saw your bulletin board and thought maybe someone might have an interest or a suggestion of where I could find someone with an interest. I am thinking about putting it on Ebay. But before I do I'd like to make its existence known. I am not sure how to post photos on your site, so if anyone wants to see some, I will need advice on how to do it. It is shown in great detail in the book, from the unopened box sitting on a table thru him opening the box, examining the Moon, putting it on a steel rod and the first brush stroke clear thru to the last. It is also on the cover. There is also a close-up of the logo, painted with the striping dagger and according to everyone I talked to at the auction, most likely the smallest logo he ever painted.
You can Google either my name or the book title to see the cover and read a bit about it and about me (on the Amazon.com site). I hope I am not out of line by posting this, and I am presuming that if I am, your Webmaster will delete it. Thanks, Richard Karl Koch