I was a fan of Jack Brabham as early as 1961. I met him and his lovely wife several years ago in the paddock at Tacoma, Washington, where he was running in a vintage race. They were both eager to speak with me - and all fans - and were clearly very personable, real, and level-headed folks, highly enthusiastic over the sport of motor racing. He drove with such legends as Stirling Moss, Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Jim Clark, Graham Hill and John Surtees. These were true heroes who drove without rollover bars, seatbelts or really any of the safety amenities we take for granted today. The tracks were often bordered by ditches, trees, stone bollards, houses, and barbed wire. I recall Jack Brabham as saying, "To finish first, you must first finish." He drove with a controlled tail-out style learned on the dirt tracks of his native Australia. A true hero and a true gentleman. Our world is made much smaller by his passing. Good-bye, Jack.
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