Back in July I was on my way out of the UW Bookstore when I noticed a few copies of The Best of Hot Rod Magazine, 1949-1959 on display. On a whim I picked up a copy, turned to L in the index, and found Lindsley, Jim and below it Lindsley, Phyllis. I flipped to the page and found this:

Yep, that's my grandmother and grandfather on the far right. And yep, I bought the book. I took it back to the Science Fiction Sorority House, alternately grinning and sniffling. My grandfather's funeral was only three months before, and even though she's been gone twenty years I still remember and miss my grandmother. Plus, she looks damn cute in those shorts.

The funny thing is that only the picture was referenced in the book's index, but on Amazon there are a few more, and in fact -- in the scary way of revved up search engines -- there are references to my grandparents in several other books, including one that has this picture:

If the hat hasn't already clued you in, my grandfather is the one behind the binoculars.

In the same book I found a section called Women Tried but Were Denied:

The SCTA was still in the Neanderthal stage of its existence when it came to women drivers, and forbade them from competing. Ak Miller explained the reason for this prejudice: "If a woman was ever killed, or maimed in a car, it could spell disaster for the entire sport. In those days, the men were terrified that if a woman was hurt, or worse, killed, and left behind children, the sport might never recover from the bad publicity."

Naturally, no one mentioned how seriously bunched up the hot rodder's BVDs would have been had they been beaten by a girl. Over time, women were issued competition licenses, but only after a protracted, puddin-head battle.

Jim Lindsley's wife, Phyllis, was a stalwart and much-admired volunteer for the SCTA in the early days, but her involvement was limited to traditional clerical and administration tasks. Once, though only because of her tremendous volunteerism, the men allowed her to make one run, probably the first by a woman.

Next weekend my grandmother will be inducted the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame, joining my grandfather.