John Sawyer says hello.He’s living in Sarasota, Fla., these days, enjoying life and spending his time reading and keeping in touch with longtime cohorts. Too many of which, he laments, are leaving us. Most recently, for example, Roger Rager and Kevin Olson.
John Sawyer says hello.
He‘s living in Sarasota, Fla., these days, enjoying life and spending his time reading and keeping in touch with longtime cohorts. Too many of which, he laments, are leaving us. Most recently, for example, Roger Rager and Kevin Olson.
Losing friends is to be expected, he says, when you reach age 85. But that doesn‘t make the losses any easier or the sorrow any less painful.
John isn‘t doing much writing these days; medical issues with his hands make typing difficult and slow. So he runs various stories through his mind, including an unfinished book project. That‘s the way it is with writers; the hands might fail us, but as long as the mind is working there are stories.
He‘s had many interests through the years. Collecting antique guns and knives, studying history, baseball, football. His many years as a schoolteacher were inspired by his inquisitive nature.
Racing was the great love affair of his life, the bulk of which was spent traveling up and down the highways of America. John made many friends along the way — particularly among drivers and crew members — as he recorded their exploits in the form of the written word.
Across five decades his stories were faithfully followed by racing people, particularly on these pages and in this magazine‘s predecessor, Open Wheel (he‘s still an avid reader of SCM). John‘s romantic expression and passion inspired countless readers and more than a few aspiring writers hung on his every word, desperately wishing that we could someday write like John Sawyer.
If only.
His writing efforts included a couple of books that had a great impact on the culture of sprint car racing, most notably Dusty Heroes in 1978 and Dialed In in 1981. Sprint car racing experienced a lasting burst of growth and interest with the arrival of the World of Outlaws in 1978; John‘s books and the appearance of Open Wheel magazine played an enormous role in shaping and sustaining that burst.
John continues to study the world these days, praising the things that are better and grousing at the things that are worse. Always a man of strong opinions and convictions, he seems to have mellowed with the passing of time.
But only a little bit.
Life, he says, has been pretty good to him. He‘s seen a lot — good and bad — and experienced much — good and bad. He was able to channel his intense love of racing into a paying proposition — for the most part. A lucrative proposition? Hardly.
He laughs as he recalls the nights when selling a couple of copies of Dusty Heroes in the pit area bought him just enough gas for the drive home.
John is sad that — dare we say it? — a new generation of racers and fans seem indifferent to the beauty and irreplaceable experience of detailed reading about the people and places of our sport.
But, he is quick to say, that‘s just how it is.
Most of all he talks about — and to — his many friends and former students. He‘s worn out several iPhones, he says, and there is joy when the phone rings with a call from a longtime friend. A long conversation always brings memories of places, dates and people into sharp and delicious focus.
Those are good days when the phone rings and the sun shines.
Sprint car racing was and is good and John continues to love the sport with an enduring passion. After all, racing has been his life. As the earth turns and new generations populate the sport he will continue to watch and study, as he always has.
Did I mention that John says hello? To all of you — past, present and future.