Well, it's Holiday Time again (even though it seems a bit strained and lonely this year) but we've been soldiering on pretty well here in the Levy household. Catholic wife Carol pulled out my folks' old menorah and insisted, as per usual, that we light the lights and say the blessings I remember pretty much phonetically/by rote from when I was a kid. I never learned Hebrew like a good Jewish boy, but we were "reform" Jews, which was probably closer to being a political liberal than it was to the Orthodox brand of the faith. Which may explain some of political leanings today? But, hopefully, we can put all that in the rearview mirror (or at least aside) for awhile now, and I'm happy to report that my brief, toe-in-the-water political musings in the last e-blast earned many supportive comments--from both the lefties and even some righties--and no threats or incendiary outrage at all. Let's hope it stays that way.

We were able to walk through the woods with a few friends plus a nice, long sunset bike ride this past week, but today it's rainy, cold and gloomy with more of same on tap, so we'll be doing a lot of staying home (except for occasional trips to the store and to the post office to mail holiday-gift books/audiobooks etc to friends, fans and customers...have you placed YOUR order yet?). Been putting in a lot of hours on the new book project, too, and come evening we'll snuggle in bed like hibernating hamsters while watching old B&W movies and a few compelling (or sometimes not-so-compelling) TV shows and miniseries. The Crown is exceptional and we really liked a Brit-angled show about the TV biz in Hollywood called Episodes (warning: it's a bit raunchy in spots) but there's also a lot of slick, manipulative crap out there that's well done and well acted and all-too-easy to get sucked into. Then you get to the end and realize you've been enveigled and entertained but not particularly enriched.

What? You were expecting maybe substance?

Had a very fond memory rekindled the other day thanks to Alfa club friend Carl Sarro. I received a big envelope from him--out of the blue--and inside was the tear sheet of a column hero/friend/racer/writer Denise McCluggage penned about me and my books back some 19 years ago. Now Denise was a VERY special person (although she'd wave that off with a snort if you said it out loud) and made her way as a woman in the thoroughly male-dominated worlds of car racing and sports journalism at a time when that simply wasn't being done, staring in the mid-1950s. Moreover, she did it as a participant and skilled practicioner rather than as any sort of gender crusade. She just wanted to do those things. And so she did. Period. Full stop.

I asked for and was honored to draw the assignment to write her obit for Vintage Motorsport magazine after she passed away in 2015, and I think I said it there as well as I could manage. So, for those of you who don't know about her or don't know much about her (or just want to join me in remembering her), here it is:

Photo immediately below is from the Revs Institute