Your fathers books and the "Tom Corbett Space Cadet" series literally changed my life. I discovered them in 1960 while in the 4th grade. They began a lifelong love for reading and comprehending what I had read that served me well during my career. Even today, I average a couple books a week. I recently found a copy of "Street Rod" and got all misty reading it again. Thank you for whatever part you might have had in your Dad being your Dad. Kerry Pinkerton
if the full set became available i would be on the waiting list i have hot rod on my nightstand and whenever i feel the need which is every 3 months or so i read it again it never leaves the stand though i don't want to misplace that one
Just a heads up for Ebay. There's a hard copy of Hotrod and Crashclub on right now, number is 350137125184. Buy it now is $50 for both. I have NO connection to the sale. it would make a great Christmas gift.
Heres something about Henry Gregor Felsen that may explain why we were so fascinated by the books such as "Hot Rod" when we first found them in Junior High back in the 50's-60's. http://www.damfino.com/authors/hfelsen/carsanddeath.html Once again I reread my editions of Hot Rod and Street Rod last year while vacationing in Daytona the following week after attending the Turkey Run.
Welcome to the HAMB.........I avidly read every one of your father's books I could get my hands on back in the 50's.......they were spellbinding to a young kid who breathed cars back then.......wonderful writing........I still have copies of 5-6 of the books...... I think you are going to find that, literally, 1000's of kids held your Dad in extremely high esteem........a great writer who truly understood his audience...... Again, welcome..... CB
A teacher in my high school had a number of copies of "Hot Rod" and had his class read it and do a book report on it each year. It is a great book and definitely influenced me as I was just getting into cars at the time. A few years ago my sister found a two copies at a used book store; she kept one and she gave one to me. It's a treasure!
WOW! Everytime I am in a used book store, a thrift store or at yard sales where there are stacks of books, I hunt feverishly for your fathers work. Years ago (late 70's early 80's)I was introduced to your Dad's work by a quick editorial written in a magazine I subscribed to when I was in high school. My friend in scouts had many copies of these that were his Dad's. I used to puruse through them when ever I spent the night there. I have Hot Rod, Fever Heat, Crash Club, Boy Gets Car/Road Rocket and a hard back first edition copy of Cup of Fury which was later named Rag Top. Fantastic books!!
No brag-just fact....I just found a 1990 limited ed. box set. While I was looking I find four of the six individually.
I would like to add my praise for your father’s work. They used his books in the summer reading programs at my high school in the 60s to inspire kids to read, after I was introduced to them, I went out and read them all, in fact I hung onto them, they’re pretty yellowed now and the pages are loose on some, but I’ll never part with them. I met your dad at a KKOA event in Michigan sometime in the 90s; he was signing boxed copies, I didn’t buy then as I was broke, but I was thrilled to meet him and I did get to talk to him for a while, he was a class act as you know. And his books had a message without being preachy. You said you have obtained the copyrights, I for one, would buy them again. Anyone else?
I know that I had read at least one of his books in junior high ( in the 80's), but can't remember which one. I purchased street rod off of eBay a couple weeks ago and read it....Damn you Ricky, why did you have to go against the "DTA's rules and race Link home......... Anyway, now I'm on a quest to find and purchase the rest of the collection, you know, just to see which one I read back in JHS.... I think about half the HAMB must be bidding against me......I wish they would be reprinted soon.
I still hav an original copy that my older brother gave me...........grew up in his shop and have been building jalopies & bikes ever since. Your Dad's book & my brother's guidance helped give me a love for mechanical that has been with me all my life. Would'nt trade it for anything!
I used the full-bleed cover art from Hot Rod on my wedding invitations. The marriage didn't turn out so well--if turning out well is defined as lasting a real long time. But the invitations were timeless.
As with most others, read and re-read, the start of most "Auto Amour" fantasy began here, especially with us older guys....this holds a place of esteem on my book shelf.........
Your father's books mesmerized me as a young reader. When I was reading one of his stories, it was like I was really there and the characters were my friends...could not put them down until the last page was turned. His books are treasures and your father is an ICON.
I first read "'Hot Rod" when I was in the third or fourth grade in the early sixties. I poked around the school library and found and read a copy of ""Street Rod". When I read the description of Bud's relationship with his car I felt a connection that I could relate to, and understand. I found a paperback copy of Hot Rod at a library sale back (?) in the nineties. Yeah, the books helped verbalize my feelings towards cars and driving. My brother gave me a hardcover copy of "Boy gets Car"", which along with the reprinted collection (which my wife got me for our anniversary) are some of my most valued possessions. I think that Boy gets Car" is my favorite because it describes the innocent longing and anguish of a young boy for that old beater. I don't know about you, but I'm still that kid!
My wife recently purchased two copies of hot rod, one for me and one for my grandson, "53 olds". my copy is hard bound with a cover. on the back of the book is a typed letter from the Des Moine, Iowa safety council. The book was used as a learning tool for teen drivers. mine is a 1966 copy, my Grandson's is a newer paperback. they were both purchased at a local Goodwill store for a few dollars.I had been looking for a copy for quite awhile.I recieved copies of Road Rocket,Street Rod,and Crash Club last Christmas. My grandson read his copy in one evening and plans on re-reading it soon..
When I was about 11 or so ('73?) , my Dad was cleaning out his closet and came across a raggedy paperback of "Hot Rod". I remember it as if it were yesterday, he handed it to me and told me it was the best book he'd ever read, and that copy had been read by nearly all of his buddies when he was in high school (class of '57). I started reading the book that afternoon and it was so riveting, I could not put it down. Even though I was pretty young, and the book was likely written in the late '40's, I could relate to Bud Crayne as if I knew him. I think everyone could, since that book, more than any other seems to be the quintessential HGF novel. I've re-read Hot Rod about 10 times since that first time, and as of last night, I started again. It just never gets old...
I can remember the day I found a copy of Hot Rod in our small town library. I remember how it felt in my hands as I read. I had never connected with a book that electrified me so. I could not put it down. 57 years have passed and I have not outgrown the magic that this book gave to me as a young teenager and now as an old man.
I never read any of the books. But appearently many have...Which is a good thing... My question is, did he have rods himself? Or have friends with them, or just a imagination for them? If so, you got a pic or two?
In an interview with HGF conducted in the mid to late '80s, he said that the Chevy convertible that Link Aller drives in Street Rod and Rag Top was based on a '49 convertible that he drove in the early '50s. He replaced the stock 216 with a modified 270 GMC six (dual carbs, cam, dual exhausts, milled and ported head).
I read CRASH CLUB and HOT ROD as a kid and figured out ( I think ) that the river bridge south of Maxwell Iowa was "the bridge" where an important "event" took place in one of the books. Think of the book every time I cross it. I could build the cars if a movie is ever made. Luck. JW
On that subject, Felsen mentioned in the same interview that "90 mile curve" from Hot Rod was a real curve, and said where it was (not that I can remember). I guess I need to find that interview in my magazine mountain!
That may have been in a southern Minnesota town named Slayton. There was a group of about 8 or 9 kids killed in one crash on a sweeping turn near that town in the late 40's. I was last through there about 10 years ago, and the THINK! signs marking the crash sight were still there. It may also have just been something similar.
From 2001: " . . a project Slayton Kiwanis Club is undertaking regarding the nations worst accident sign on Maple Road in Slayton. The sign contains 12 think signs that were erected at the site where 12 people were killed in a car accident on April 21, 1940. . . . occurred April 21, 1940, on Maple Road (old Highway 59)" I wonder if they are still there. --------------- This is a great tribute by a gentleman out in Iowa: http://www.damfino.com/authors/hfelsen/avondale.htm I wish I could remember his name, (Perry, I believe) because he deserves some accolades for putting out a very nice and updated spin on the Bud Crayne story. ---------------------- To the originator of this thread; If you have read through these many, many replies you now have no doubt how much your father's writing was enjoyed by car-hungry school boys for many years. And still is by those now-older guys. We all still have the books, tattered pages and all, often still within reach at a moment's notice. I try to read one or another of them every year, partly nostalgic for the old days, but good stories still. My favorite is actually Road Rocket/ Boy Gets Car. I don't believe there was ever a better book to capture the crazy passion a young guy has for the automobile. Please update the HAMB if you plan reprints.
The Jalopy Journal
