2 posts tagged “writer”

When I paid tribute to Jeff Daniels last week, I had no idea another automotive hero of mine, the Belgian Paul Frère, had also passed away.
   Paul Frère raced motorcycles and cars, won Le Mans in 1960 driving a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, and wrote for numerous magazines, including Road & Track. He was injured while driving a Honda Civic Type R at the Nürburgring in 2006, suffering a shattered pelvis, broken ribs and punctures to his lungs. When you’re 89 that’s a lot harder to recover from.
   Godspeed, Paul. You will be missed.

Sad news for car nuts: automotive and technical writer Jeff Daniels has passed away, according to Keith Adams’ Austin Rover Online website. There’s a longer piece at Just-auto.com.
   There probably isn’t anyone of my generation who doesn’t recall the greats like L. J. K. Setright, Jeff Daniels, George Bishop, Phil Hill and Paul Frère.
   Jeff wrote a column called ‘Danspeak’ in Autocar for many years, and it is probably his style, more than anyone else’s, that informed me when I started my columns.
   I found him one of the more knowledgeable car writers out there and it is sad that much of this old style of journalism has given way to the Jeremy Clarksons of this world. Just as in television presenting, where the William Woollards gave way to the Jeremy Clarksons on Top Gear.
   While I love Clarkson’s style (since he could never get away with it without some actual research) and can be said to adopt elements myself, there is still room for the more technical, educated approach of Daniels et al.
   Jeff Daniels was 68 and continued working up to his death. He will be sorely missed.