I miss Gray Baskerville...

Miss you Gray .

 

Loved the breezy way he flirted with the language. So much a one-of-a-kind that descriptions fail. When I think of fun and good times I think of Baskerville's prose.

 

There wasn't a story he wrote that i didn't read at least three times and enjoy with all of my heart! I miss him too!

 

Reat.

 

To me, Gray's article in the November 1973 issue of Rod & Custom about Pete and Jake's 34 coupes is the best ever written. We sure miss you, Gray.

 

I really liked his stuff too. Another writer that I miss is Bill Burnham, who wrote "In Bill's Eye" for (I think) Rod and Custom. Also liked Tom McCahill who wrote many years ago for Mechanics Illustrated or maybe Popular Mechanics/

All those guys knew how to tell a story.

Don

 

he was different

 

Burnham wrote for Street Rodder & was another talented teller of tales.

Baskerville was just plain *****in! What a great talent & at***ude towards life that man had. Live life simple.

 

A wonderful influence to so many. His good nature was contagious. He, Burnham, Ganahl and others taught us so much.

 

yep, one of a kind. he could capture the true world of cars with words in conversation and print along with the click of a shutter. Ol' Dad helped keep us all young, and inspired the young guns too. think real hard and name someone that has filled his shoes (sandals).

 

Ya, Bill Burnham was another that I still quote and re-read to this day. Everytime I'm looking at a gas pump display in the afternoon sun trying to read how much I'm pumping into my tank, I think of his tirade against digital gauges, and how to him L.E.D. stood for Less Efficiant Design... Priceless.

 

And that's the thing, I don't believe that there ever will be guy that can fill those sandals.

 

His infectious laughter; the inquisitive nature; the sound of his flip-flops; the click of his always present camera -- all memorable.


What I always liked was that he liked to drive his '32, feature cars and more. R&C articles were great, but I miss the Hot Rod "Road Test" articles he used do with with magazine feature cars. Drive 'em!

 

I met him at the 1999 Hot Rod Power Tour, a real down to earth guy.

 

Had the pleasure of meeting Gray on the salt in '98.
After a moment of shock at meeting him, I introduced myself and thanked him for all his stories through the years.
Then he asked me, "Are you having a *****in time?".
What could I do but agree?

 

Man, sore subject with me....I miss the guy too...I grew up reading his articles. Live my life by "all bad*** 40 Fords dont have hoods" One of his last wishes just a day or two before he died was to drive his 32 Roadster one last time. RIP Gray

 

As a third grader faithfully reading my Hot Rod subscription, Dear ol' Dad's words were easy to understand and I learned a lot about cars. Reet, even....

 

Funny that this subject came up. I used to see Gray quite frequently at Chrismans' shop, which is right around the corner from mine . One day Grey discovered a mason jar of "shine" that I'd brought back from one of my trips to TN for Arts' son Mike . After that it seemed that everytime Gray would come by , there was a little less 'shine in that jar .He was always a hoot to be around , but man did he know his stuff !! RIP

 

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All reet. Hey ho, it's sooo *****in. Baskerville, as in Hounds of The.

I miss Basketcase.

 

I met him a few times.

He was definately different. A friendly, fun loving guy who did not take himself seriously. I loved the articles he wrote about his beloved DEUCE roadster. I was so impressed ... I took a lot of styling influences from his 32 ...

 

Gray was the MAN.....I think I read everything he ever wrote and I think of him everytime I see a guy wearing FLIP-FLOPS.
Miss ya Gray

 

I am very lucky to be good friends with Jim Shelton the caretaker of Grey's roadster. I was fortunate enough to spend a weekend with Jim last month and got to hear many, many stories of Grey. In fact, the casual sitting around with great pals, including Jim, and listening to Jim's stories WAS the highlight of the weekend. I sure wish I would have personally know Grey as I'm sure I would have LOVED him like so many others did.

It's all about the people and the cars are just the glue that keeps us all together.

 

Totally weird...this morning I had a dream about finally finding the ultimate, already feels good on my feet, flip flops.....hmmmmm....

Anyway, yeah, he wrote like none other. Makin' up his own words and sometimes a little overboard on corn, but that was what made it fun.


Freakin' love this little 'toon....

 

I met him at the LARS one year, and it was one of those years where it was burning hot and shade was a premium. We were under one of the trees talking about all the *****in stuff there, and I mentioned a wild VW Hebmuller volksrod out in the parking lot that he had to see, and he looked at me like I had 2 heads. Later on, we p***ed each other again, and he gave me a wink and a smile. 'Ol Dad had took my advice and saw the car, and gave me kudos. I'll never forget it.

I miss him terribly. There's nobody even close to his level in the magazine business today.

Rods are REET!!

 

I remember one time in my first year of high school ('79 or so), writing an essay where I used the word *****in'... And got marked down for it because according to the teacher there was "NO SUCH WORD!!!" The next day I brought in what was probably the current issue of Hot Rod with a story that Gray had wrote that used the word "*****in' ". The teacher rolled her eyes as I approached the desk carrying the magazine, (I was waaaayyyy down the list of her favorite students) and I asked her to kindly define NO SUCH WORD... Then I put the magazine on the desk with the p***age highlighted. She read that sentence then proceded to read more of the article getting madder and madder, finally she basically threw it back at me and said "HE CAN'T DO THAT, THAT'S NOT ENGLISH, THAT'S GIBERISH!!!" She never did define THERE IS NO SUCH WORD though... I remained a favorite student for several more months.

 

heh...my sophomore english teacher took my Hot Rod mag away, so she could read it

 

I loved ol' dad's writing style. He was so knowledgeable and had a child-like excitement in his writing style that made his p***ion very evident. I still have a pic of him taped up in my art studio.

 

I read a thread about Dear Old Dad tonight, and a couple of guys wished it had been about Gray Baskerville... Thought I'd bump this one back up after a year and a half or so.

 

I have a quick question. What did he say when his name was said wrong? Like Gary instead of the correct Gray?? The first time I looked at the credit line I thought it was a misprint for Gary.. Thank you and I like others miss his wit we will never be blessed with another like him...