Move over Oprah, I'm starting a book club.
I get a lot of dead time traveling. In the age of laptops, PSPs, PDAs, iPods, iPhones, and such; I do the old fashion thing... I bring a book. Many of the titles I've read over the summer are Formula One related books. With that in mind, he is my first in a series of Formula One book review starting with Eoin Young's 'Memories of The Bear: A biography of Denny Hulme.' - Dan
Title: Memories of The Bear: A biography of Denny Hulme
By: Eoin Young
Publisher: Haynes Publishing (August 15, 2008)
Misc: Hardcover, 416 pages with both black / white and color illustrations
Price on jacket: $34.95 (USD)
Price on Amazon: $26.56 (USD)
Review: There are several reasons why I picked up Eoin Young' Memories of The Bear: A biography of Denny Hulme in May at Powell's bookstore in Portland, Oregon. First, Denny Hulme is a dead ringer for my father. Second with as many hours I've spent playing the video game Grand Prix Legends, I figured it was about time that I read about the guy who won the championship that season.
There is a certain mythology about Formula One racing in the 1960's. It was the last decade before sponsors, big TV deals, wings, and advertisements. The era is viewed as the most dangerous time ever for a Grand Prix driver to race when safety was considered as hay bails along the road and American football helmets. It was also a era stacked with talent with the likes of Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Dan Gurney, John Surtees, Pedro Rodríguez, Lorenzo Bandini, Graham Hill, Chris Amon, and Bruce McLaren all behind the wheel.
It's easy to see why Denny Hulme seems lost in the crowd... dare I say almost forgotten. Which is really too bad because his journey to the 1967 World Championship was so fascinating. What compounds this lack of knowledge of Denny is the fact he died when he did in 1992. It was before he could be appreciated by the world's motor sports community in the same way as such elder statesmen of the sport such as Stewart, Brabham, and Surtees.
Eoin Young is no stranger to this era or Denny Hulme. He was in the amazing position to cover the Kiwi invasion of Hulme, McLaren, and Amon to the Formula One grid in the 1960's. He has published biographies on Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren which I've not read yet but will be picking up one of these days. Based on Young's performance in this book, they should be fascinating.