October 6, 2014
Many peaks of the Silver Mountain range surrounding the Bonneville Salt Flats are named after land speed racers including Ab Jenkins, “Terrible” Teddy Tetzlaff, John Cobb, Athol Graham and Malcolm Campbell.
Click photo for full panoramic view
Los Angeles, CA – The Southern California Chapter of the Society of Automotive Historians named “LandSpeed” Louise Ann Noeth the winner of the 2014 James Valentine Memorial Award in the periodicals category.
Presented for “Excellence in Automotive Historical Research,” the entry entitled “Counting Down to a Century of Speed” appeared in the October 2013 issue of the GoodGuys Gazette. The 18-page feature encapsulates 100 years of land speed racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
“One judge commented about the possibility of expanding the article into a full length book,” explained Bob Ewing, Chairman, Valentine Award committee, “ ‘I would look forward to seeing something along those lines on the shelves.’ Another judge commented the entry had ‘considerable value in a number of ways,’ but also felt it could have been edited better, and that the lack of captions on some photos left him wondering which vehicle was which.”
Noeth, an acknowledged expert on the subject matter, was equally grateful for the award as well as the critical remarks.
“A new book is underway!” said author Noeth. “One judge, a retired college professor, said that there should have been more detail into how the research into the article was done. As a street urchin who learned her craft through the tender mercies of thoughtful, yet tough university-trained editors through the years, I don’t automatically think about creating a bibliography when hunting down historical facts – but I will now.”
The Valentine Memorial Award is named for the late J.H. Valentine, at one time the recognized authority of automobiles built in Los Angeles. Valentine devoted his life to accurately compiling nearly insignificant data on early automobiles one by one. With no chance of personal wealth, he ensured that future historians would have a large quantity of priceless material. The Valentine Award honors authors whose automotive historical research is linked to people and events in California, but does not preclude significant historical milestones anywhere in the world.
Noeth was first honored in 2002 by the SAH SoCal Chapter, winning the Valentine for her book “Bonneville Salt Flats.” She has repeatedly earned additional honors through the years for her historical work.
Here is a link to the 2014 Valentine Award winning article:
https://landspeedproductions.biz/wp-content/uploads/BSF100.pdf