At times like these I believe we should go to those memories that make us smile to ease the pain in our hearts. Steve was introduced to me through family. His brother Eric's wife and my wife are sisters. I have heard stories and jokes as only Steve could tell. Recieved advice and guidance on hot rods from Roger, Steve and Eric. In short the Hendricksons are a huge part of me being in this great hobby. Some years ago in the fall when most hot rods go to hibernation I was visiting Eric. It was time to put the Plymouth coupe up for the winter and the place where it was to be stored was a few miles away. Steve was also visiting Eric at the time and as we know all good brothers share, Steve was asked to drive the coupe. Steve offered me shotgun and I wasn't going turn it down. The Plymouth as I recall was a 33 with a built 302 Chevy and a killer 4 speed. This car had the look and it could back it up. Even in DP90 (calfshit tan according to Eric and Chris Hanson) it seemed like the Milner coupe or the California Kid. As we head out for the highway Steve gave it a couple good launches at the stop signs. Then we were on 4 lanes of blacktop, I had my arm inside the suicide door holding on and in nothing flat 4th gear! The pipes were rappin' and crazy laughter filled the coupe as we sped down the highway. It felt as if I was living the Hot Rod Lincoln song. When we arrived where Eric had arranged storage and exited the coupe both of us had huge smiles and just looked at the car with great satisfaction. A couple minutes later Eric showed up with a huge smile on his face. He walks up and says " I tried to keep up with you, but when I saw I was doing 85 and you were pulling away I just let you go." It was a hell of a ride. I was lucky to have experienced it with someone as down to earth as Steve.
Great sory bud. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm a firm believer in reflecting on all the good times you've shared with someone who has passed away. It certainly helps the heart. My fondest memories aren't of any certain time that we spent together but of all the phone calls. I would call Steve, at work or home, nite or day, during every important "event" in Big Olds's life. He was always thrilled to hear exactly where Big Odls was and what he was doing for the first time. I remember calling him from the Salt at B'ville during Speed Week. Steve said he never would have thought Big Olds would ever be on the salt let alone traveling at speed (about 60) down the long course after the drivers meeting. A week or so later I called him from the HAMB Drags after Big Olds made his first pass down a drag strip. He seemed honestly geeked that I was thrashing Big Olds. He said it's exactly what he built him to do. Travel the highways and drag strips at the same time. I also remember calling him from the shop of Fab32 when we were doing the first thrash on Big Olds's body a couple of years ago. He was looking forward to seeing Big Olds taken to the "next level" as he called it. Probley my most proudest call to Steve was made from Earl Schieb's shop in TN the weekend I picked Big Olds up from being painted. I know I was practicly in tears describing the paint job and body mods to him. It was a moment in time Steve should have been sharing in person but a phone call was the next best thing and was something we were now in the habit of sharing. Sad to say he never got the chance to see Big Olds in shiny paint in person. I don't have many regrets in life but not taking Big Olds out to see Steve last summer is certainly one of them and something I'll regret not doing for the rest of my life. I will finish Big Olds as a rolling tribute to Steve and will do whatever is necessary to keep his memory alive thru that car.
Couldn't do anything but smile when the story was over and just had to read it again great story. Prayes to the whole family and all who cared for him.
My folks live not far from Steve's place in Wisconsin. A couple of years ago my Dad had my coupe for the day early in the seaon. He stopped in town to gas it up, and when he went to leave, it wouldn't start. About that time, Steve was passing by, saw the coupe, and stopped. He approched the car knowing it was mine, but was surprised to see it wasn't me driving. My Dad told him who he was, and told him he was having a little trouble getting it started, but he knew it had a hot start problem now and then, so he was just letting it cool off. Well about a half hour later, he had just got it started and was about to leave when Steve came pulling up. He said he just came back to be sure Dad had been able to get it started. When Dad told me about this, I wasn't surprised. Even though he was a "Big Shot" magazine guy, he always had the time to talk, and always had something nice to say about the progress I had made on my car. I was looking forward to seeing him at back to the 50's this year to tell him how great I thought he was doing on his 32. I'm sorry I won't get that chance.
A sad loss for all. Thankyou for the great stories and memories. Denise I am sure Steve will always be riding with you and Big Olds where ever you may travel. Geoff aka whodaky
heres a shot to make you smile... we were trying to get Steve in trouble haha... taking a shot with Mel's friend leaning over JustSteves yellow rocket- I'm pretty sure his wife was with him but he didnt know we were taking pics with chicks on his car... I know there are more somewhere... we posted this on the hamb about 5 years ago. Tuck
Working with Steve I guess I have a lot of stories. He helped me pull and re-install the engine on my Mustang two years ago when I built a stroker for it. Just spending hours in the shop with grease up to our armpits was a joy, and all he asked when we were done was a big greasy bacon cheeseburger at JR Macs. We used to travel together to SEMA, including the SEMA show that was one month after 9/11. We pretty much had the town to ourselves. Hanging out with a grounded person like Steve in the ultimate of frivoulous cites was a hoot. Probably my favorite series of events was a battle he had with another editor at MBI. The editor's name is John Adams Graf, who has since moved on the be the editor of a miltary vehicle magazine at Krause Publications. There was a car show in the cities somewhere, and in the show was this hot rodded school bus. JAG hated that bus, and Steve would find a way to slip a photo of it into JAG's stuff. This went back and forth for a while, until the coup de grace. JAG was a big civil war fan and re-enactor, to the point of having a civil war battle scene as his screen saver on his work PC. One day while Jag was at lunch without us, Steve found his way into JAGs computer and photoshopped the school bus into the middle of the battlefield scene. It took a day for JAG to discover it, but when he did, the fur flew. It was hilarious, and the entire department was laughing so hard that they didn't get any work done for a while. I used this inspiration to photoshop an image of Chip Foose's face on the baby picture of Steve's replacement here at CarTech. The end result was the same. I almost every day would wander into Steve's office and just plop into his guest chair and talk shop for 15 minutes. It could be about cars, about world events, god forbid about work stuff, or about anything you can imagine. The door was always open and a smile was always in his face. We always concluded the conversation with "You make the books, I'll sell the books". You take things for granted when they become the daily routine. I thought I would be swapping the same old crappy stories with him when we were old and gray.
Seemed like Steve had time for everybody. He was encouraging, helpful and one of those guys you'd like to have for a neighbor and friend. I miss his writing and I especially miss him....
The Jalopy Journal
