14 ❙ July.2007

Taking A Chance, Getting A Chance

NOTE: This column is a departure frommy regular ruminating about land speed racingat Bonneville. When automotive publishingtitan Robert E. Petersen died this past March, Irevisited the start of my photojournalism career.It all hooks onto this Bonneville pioneer, a guywho together with Wally Parks made the firstSpeedweek a reality.

I think everyone who has done any-thing worthwhile with their life has one.That one person (or more) that you lookback on with gratitude for giving you abreak, a chance to show what you can do.For me, that was the late Robert E.Petersen, founder of the most influentialenthusiast magazines in the world.

The year was 1979, I had stopped rac-ing jet dragsters all over the northAmerican continent, tired of living out of asuitcase for nine months out of the year.Through an author acquaintance I metMercury 7 astronaut Gordon Cooper whowas at the time, the boss of at WED, thethink tank arm for the Walt DisneyCorporation.

Cooper hired me as a design engineerfor the then-new EPCOT and Tokyo

Disneyland projects. I packed my meagerbelongings, bid fond farewell to my nativeChicago and headed west.

That job lasted two weeks. The per-sonnel department said Cooper had noright to hire someone without a collegedegree, although I could keep the job if Itook a pay cut to damn near minimumwage because “it wouldn’t be fair to theother employees who went to school.” I leftin tears. My dream of working for theMouse was crushed. Cooper couldn’t help;he felt terrible.

That weekend I was drowning my sor-rows at a Christmas party wondering how Iwas going to make a living when I over-heard a conversation that PetersenPublishing was looking for an editor. I hadno idea what an editor was supposed to do,but I was a quick study and needed work.Ironically, it was the computer knowledgeand skills that I brought from my govern-ment job that got me hired.

Petersen was just starting to converthis periodical empire from paper paste-upto computerized pagination. I had just fin-ished working for the State of Illinois doingthe same darn thing, but on a much more

massive scale. The Petersen gig was kinder-garten to me and after interviewing with sixdirectors on the corporate masthead, thejob was mine.

I became editor of the HOT RODPerformance & Custom Directory and thefirst and only woman to ever be hired torun an automotive book while Robert E.owned the joint. A former editor was a guynamed Alex Xydias.

I had a window office on the 7th flooroverlooking Sunset Boulevard and got offthe elevator each morning greeted by asnarling stuffed eight-foot polar bear on itshind legs. This was the executive officefloor, I shared square footage with a bearbagged by the boss.

Several guys were miffed about somebroad getting the Editor’s job and tookevery opportunity to push me around.Green and naïve, it took awhile until I’dhad enough. Something drastic was calledfor if I was going to get the job done forwhich I had been hired, or I would beunemployed again.

I wrote a restructuring editorial planfor the Directory, which included an indus-try-wide performance survey that woulddebut at the 1980 SEMA Show. The prob-lem was how the hell to get it in front ofPetersen’s eyes.

The janitorial crew came to my rescue.I normally worked late into the night andhad gotten to know the folks who cleanedour floor. I asked if they would please placea copy of my plan on the desks of Mr.Petersen, President Fred Waingrow, VPDick Day and Publisher Dick Van Cleve.

The next morning I was summonedinto the “inner sanctum” to face not onlymy four targeted folks, but another half-dozen company big shots. I was asked toexplain myself - sitting down, thank God -because I doubt my legs would have heldout otherwise.

After what seemed like hours (actuallyless that 30 minutes) of making me feel likea grilled cheese sandwich, Petersen didn’tfire me, but instead agree to let me imple-ment more than half of the action items Ihad proposed. The rest, dear readers, is his-

tory. The 1980 HOT ROD Performance& Custom Directory was a glorious successthat was later recognized as the most error-free and complete issue produced in years.

I was introduced to dozens of folksthat today are giants in the automotive,motorsports and performance aftermarket.Some, like Dick Wells, who can type fasterthan most women on the planet, remaindear to me for showing this kid the ropes,helping me when the chips were down andsteering me away from pitfalls.

Petersen was also were I picked up mymoniker “LandSpeed Louise.” Notoriousfor ripping through the office buildingbarefoot, taking the stairs because the ele-vators were too slow and high heels wouldhave got me killed, I apexed a blind cornerone afternoon down on the 5th floor(where the monthly rag was created) onlyto center-punch the late Gray Baskervilleonto his back-side with an arm fullof magazines.

I apologized on the fly, started to helphim up and then two other magazinestaffers sauntered out to find out about thecommotion in the hall. Well, Baskervillemade the most of it and instantly went into“moan overload.” When I realized he wasOK and started to walk off in a huff, he saidsomething to effect of “There she goes,LandSpeed Louise.” Baskerville used thestory to his great delight and my chagrin,until the name stuck.

Ah, but corporate life was not for me.As I began my freelance writing (thanksTom Senter), photography (thanks BobD’Olivo) and graphic design (thanks BillClaxton) career, the great success atPetersen Publishing Company bolsteredmy resolve.

That’s why I owe Robert E. Petersenbig for taking a chance on a completeunknown. The guy reenergized my sense ofprofessional self-worth shattered by theDisney demons. I started LandSpeedProductions, writing, photographing anddesigning for loads of magazine,newspaper and book publishers in a bunchof languages.

This all came washing back throughmy mind when I heard that Bob had died.There was no question I’d attend his funer-al mass, Mr. Petersen commanded myrespect, I would go and say farewell.

Unlike many who were there, thosewho call him “friend” — Carroll Shelby,Wally Parks, Alex Xydias, George Barris,Bob Bondurant, Ernest Borgnine, BobD’Olivo, Tom Selleck, Vic Edelbrock, DanGurney – I was a mere employee. I neverwent hunting with the guy, never flew inhis jet, or hung out at the ranch inPalmdale.

What I got was a chance. And for that,I am forever thankful.

Note: Photojournalist Louise Ann Noeth isthe authoress of the award-winning book,Bonneville: The Fastest Place on Earth, a com-plete historical review of the first 50 yearsof land speed racing now in its 6th printing.For more details and to order, go to:www.landspeedproductions.biz.

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