JIM LINDSAY
I was born in Corvallis, Oregon early in the morning of February 18, 1947. I was raised on our family farm south of Albany, Oregon and spent eight years pedaling back and forth to the
Oakville Grade School on my Columbia bicycle. I shared my early life with my brother, Bob, in ventures from raising pigs to producing grass seed, grain, and alfalfa. During my
adolescence, I was exposed to the world of hot rodding by my cousins from San Francisco. They worked on our farm during the summers and brought with them the cars, magazines, and stories
of the California car culture.
I spent four years attending Albany Union High School in the beginning of the 60’s, during the Cold War. In that institution roamed the ghosts of the 50’s. Albany had been a mecca for hot rods, car clubs, and drag racing. My friends and I hung on to that life style as best we could, but it was swept away from us with the arrival of the Beatles in 1964.
I spent four years attending Albany Union High School in the beginning of the 60’s, during the Cold War. In that institution roamed the ghosts of the 50’s. Albany had been a mecca for hot rods, car clubs, and drag racing. My friends and I hung on to that life style as best we could, but it was swept away from us with the arrival of the Beatles in 1964.
I worked in the area wherever I could get a job until Bob and I started our farming operation in the fall of 1969. We spent the winters in the mills and shops around Albany working until we became self-sufficient. My career in farming is coming to an end after forty-two years.
I could never quite forget the culture of the fifties and early sixties. It stuck with me and I have found myself comparing the decade and a half to times since. American Graffiti came out in 1973 which put a seal on it. I wasn’t the only one. I wanted to go back and I found a way through hot rods and old rock and roll. I built a car in 1976 like I wished I could have had in high school, a 32 Ford powered by a flathead and rolling on Firestone bias tires. I drove it 2,500 miles this summer on an out of the way trip to Bonneville.
I wrote a book a couple years back called An Average Hot Rodder, which is my take on the car culture and its evolution as pertaining to me and how it affected my life. A year later I wrote a little book, The Bob Duedall B/Comp Story, about the fun I had restoring Bob’s dragster. These projects stirred my interest in writing which led me to writing my first fictional novel, The Little Bastards.
So here I am; an aged farmer, a hot rodder, a race car driver, and novelist, living on my farm with my dog Ruby. Ruby hates my computer, and so do I, but it spells better than I do...
Kathie, my crew chief, my companion, and the love of my life.
