I read in Bruce Ellis' column in Sprint Car and Midget Magazine that Gary London died last year. I noticed that he was no longer commenting on Facebook and had wondered about him. Last I knew of him was that he had gone to Florida to live with a nephew. I always enjoyed his columns in NSSN, both the old weekly and the new Speedsport magazine. His smart alecky style might have offended some, but he was interesting to read. I always looked forward to his most interesting race driver nicknames column. I'll forever remember Nippy Comerdinger (not sure of spelling), but that always cracked me up! I Googled and found this link to his obituary:
Ron, thanks for posting this. I never knew this about Gary. I'm like you......reading Gary's NSSN column was something I always looked forward to. He was old school, very witty and was never afraid to speak his mind. He told it like it was. Not many writers are like that today. I got my first Speed Sport in the late 60's and kept it till the day the newspaper went away. At least we have the magazine now. RIP Gary.
Originally Posted by jdull99:
A poetic "tragedy" I never saw ONE big story on Gary's passing...(I can't even get that Obit link to come up with anything...)
There wasn't an obituary as such, just a date of birth and death, but no details. In one of his last postings on Facebook, he had said that he was going to Florida to live with a nephew. He gave the impression that his financial resources were limited, and that he was in poor physical condition. All those columns he wrote for NSSN and other auto racing papers apparently didn't produce a financial windfall.
I don't remember seeing anything about his passing in the Speedsport magazine. The first I knew of it was the mention in the Bruce Ellis column in Sprint Car and Midget magazine. I had read comments from Gary that gave the impression that he did not have a very good relationship with the new Speedsport magazine people.
Originally Posted by ronmil:
....All those columns he wrote for NSSN and other auto racing papers apparently didn't produce a financial windfall.
No, I am sure they did not.
He always had his E-Mail address at the end of each write-up. I chatted with him a few times via that format. He always responded and I got the impression he really liked speaking with his fellow race fans.
His day job was at the New York State Motor Vehicle Bureau and he was retiring from there the last time we corresponded (2003-ish I am guessing?). Shortly thereafter, I was no longer getting NSSN in the mail, for the internet essentially started taking over motorsports periodicals of the sort.
And, it goes without saying, he had an incredible gift for writing about motorsports. He was at the top of that list.
Was unaware of Gary passing. Read and enjoyed his stuff for years. Did not know him personally, but traded some E-mails with him after the advent of the Internet. He loved racing and had a wealth of racing knowledge. R.I.P. Gary.
I didn"t know of Gary"s passing till like Ron said saw it in Sprint Car & Midget When I used to get Speed Sport News in the mail his column was the first I turned to RIP Gary
Read Gary's columns for years. Yes, he could tick people off sometimes but most of the time I agreed with him. He lost a great friend when Chris E, passed and I'm sure that had to affect him and his writing some. RIP Gary London.
