My buddy Rick Smith in Grass Valley, California wrote me this morning, telling me that hot rod artist/writer Charlie Hayward (AKA "Charlie O") had passed away, after a year long illness (I don't know the details on that). Charlie was known for the "Gordy and Goldy" cartoons and did a long stint at Hot Rod Magazine, as their Art Director. He was a staple of the Grass Valley car scene, where he and his '40 (or was it a '39?) Ford tudor were regulars at all the hot rod gatherings. In recent years, Charlie focused on metal sculpture, using "found objects" from his friend's shops. Last time I spoke with him, he was pretty stoked at the possibility of bringing back Gordy and Goldy in comic book form. I barely knew him, but we worked on a couple of projects via e-mail and I could tell what a straight shooter he was, as I'd always heard. Some of Charlie's friends on here can probably supply more details. I just noticed there wasn't any mention of his passing here today, so felt compelled to say something. Scotty
I met Charlie at the HOT ROD Mag. event at Indy in the early 80s. He had been driving his 38 Chevy to the mid west and wrote an article about his adventure. Some of his methods of getting the right shot for the HRM coverwere extreme. They had a rental staff carLincoln Mark,and the shot was a posedf street scene.To get the angle,they first tried standing on the bumper,then stood on the deck lid[some damage],then stood in the middle of the top,caving it in pretty bad.Shot turned into a cover,of which I,m very proud. Condolences to the family.
He was really good with creating computer art too. Did the logo for the P-Town Push Rods Car Club, of Pleasanton CA. Search zazzle.com for calendars, then P-Town Push Rods Car Car Club Calendar. The logo is on the front cover. Calendar features some of the clubs rides. Yep, he is missed. Thanks for the post about him.
If anyone has a favorite piece by Charlie, i'd like to see it. A quick google search didn't really turn anything up. Rest in peace. -Chris
Sad news. Didn't he do the piece in Hot Rod years ago about driving his 37 Chevy sedan to a meet in the Midwest? "Heartland Express" I belive it was titled.
Yes that was a great read. I know I've got it somewhere, I'll look for it, might take a while. HemiDeuce.
Missed this thread originally and just read about Charlie in the current issue of Hot Rod. How sad - another great contributor to my growth as a hot rodder. I loved his article about the finding and building of his '37 Chevy and the subsequent tech articles chronicling it's gradual improvement. Charlie was not only a great art director (as evidenced every month in Hot Rod) but not a half bad writer, again as we experienced his trials with the '37 in the articles he penned. My belated condolences to his family and friends. Steve
I just found this thread through Google, and I want to thank all of you for your kind words about my dad, Charlie. We will be showing his Tribal Totems sculptures and some of his 'toons at the Roamin Angels Cruisin' the Pines Car Show this weekend (Sept. 10-12) in Grass Valley, CA. Also, you can see a selection of his art and photos of the sculptures on his Flickr stream, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hot_art_studio/
Hey, thanks for the links! Hope you guys are doing okay. Great choice for your HAMB name, by the way... Scotty
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