Damn, R.I.P. My Dad (R.I.P.) ran around with Wally's younger brother in High School and after the War. Some of the stories he'd tell.... ....one time after a race at Carrell Speedway, out back of a little house on Kansas St. in South Gate.... anyway... A very full life lived.
Imagine how different things would be if Mr. Parks hadn't had the vision he had, and the determination to make it succeed, with the help of a lot of people, including Hot Rod's Robert Peterson, Eric Rickman, and many, many others. We in the hot rod world owe a great debt to these guys, and I think part of that is passing on to those who follow us what these great men passed on to us.
No one has done more for hot rodding than the great Wally Parks. What a fantastic legacy he has left. R.I.P. Wally and congratulations on a well lived life!
While the heroes are passing en masse these days, this is the buggest loss to our history that we will suffer. I quite often disagreed with things he did, and I was many times the subject of his frustration (because HRM does not cover NHRA much) or his sharp emails (he often corrected or revised our history pieces). Even so, he was my most revered hero, the man without whom we would hardly have a sport or a hobby. He remained passionate an on point to the very end; indeed, I'd exhanged emails with him just weeks ago. The last time he contributed to HOT ROD was with comments when Bob Petersen passed away. It's a horrible shame that Wally did not finish the SCTA book he was working on and that he never wrote an autobiography. In recent years, when I asked him for interviews or to review photos with me, he always said no, because "I've had enough ink for any one man." His vision remained on the future, not the past. This one hits me hardest. I am proud to have known the man. Godspeed. DF
Sad news indeed. RIP Wally, you will be missed. Thank you for all you did for our sport and for hot rodding in general.
Could Hot Rodding have stayed alive without the intervention of Wally Parks and Bob Peterson back in the early days when the battle cry was to ban and outlaw Hot Rods all together ? Thank you Wally,...... and thank you Bob.
The Jalopy Journal
