Archive for Items Categorized 'Biography/ Autobiography', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.
Rising Ground and No Room to Turn, A Biography
![Rising Ground and No Room to Turn, A Biography](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Rising-Ground-98x150.jpg)
by Vivien Eyers
When you design, build, and fly your own aircraft—especially if they were never certified—you’ll have some stories to tell. While the protagonist really had no inclination to do that he left enough material behind for his sister to give it a whirl.
The Last Enemy
![The Last Enemy](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Last-Enemy-penguin-92x150.jpg)
by Richard Hillary
After being shot down in the Battle of Britain this Spitfire pilot endured pioneering plastic surgery to rebuild his face and hands. While recovering, he wrote this memoir, then returned to flying again. Two months later was shot down again, at 23. This time he died.
As a Matter of Fact, I Am Parnelli Jones
![As a Matter of Fact, I <em>Am</em> Parnelli Jones](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/AsAMatter-125x150.jpg)
by Parnelli Jones with Bones Bourcier
Told by the protagonist as much as by his peers this memoir paints a rich picture of the people, cars, and venues in American racing of the 1960s and ‘70s in a sometimes feisty and always engaging manner.
Sea Flight: The Wartime Memoirs of a Fleet Air Arm Pilot
![Sea Flight: The Wartime Memoirs of a Fleet Air Arm Pilot](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SeaFlight-98x150.jpg)
by Hugh Popham
The first published memoir by a British WW II fighter pilot. Not a story of fly-boy derring-do but quiet reflection.
Lynn Paxton—My Way
![Lynn Paxton—My Way](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Lynn-Paxton-ofc-112x150.jpg)
by Don Robinson
Paxton often says he’ll be addicted to racing until he dies, and this biography makes his passion abundantly clear. He’s won more than most but can’t be bothered to keep count, because he has an even greater passion: family.
The First Lady of Dirt
![The First Lady of Dirt](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/First-Lady-of-Dirt-100x150.jpg)
The Triumphs and Tragedy of Racing Pioneer Cheryl Glass
by Bill Poehler
It’s no surprise that public figures keep their struggles private. In the case of a female driver you can image what those are. Also, she was also not only black but the first black female pro driver. And hardships followed her all her life, until it ended in suicide.
Hello, I’m Paul Page: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”
![Hello, I’m Paul Page: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Paul-Page-100x150.jpg)
by Paul Page & J.R. Elrod
Could auto racing reporting be Emmy-worthy? You bet—Page did it twice! He probably could have brought excitement to reading the telephone directory out loud. From the X Games to hot dog eating contests, this memoir covers six decades in the broadcast booth.
Fay Taylour, ‘The World’s Wonder Girl’ – A Life at Speed
![Fay Taylour, ‘The World’s Wonder Girl’ – A Life at Speed](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fay-Taylour-ofc-101x150.jpg)
by Stephen M. Cullen
An Irish motorcyclist travels the world as an itinerant racer, becomes a car salesperson in Hollywood and discovers that quintessential American grass roots activity, midget car racing on dirt tracks. Not unusual enough? There’s more.
Sir Joseph Whitworth
![Sir Joseph Whitworth](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Sir-Joseph-Whitworth-99x150.jpg)
by Norman Atkinson
You know the name even if you don’t think you do. The British Standard Whitworth system codified an accepted standard for screw threads. He did many more things, in his field and as a man—and he deserves to be better known!
The Fastest Woman on Wheels, The Life of Paula Murphy
![The Fastest Woman on Wheels, The Life of Paula Murphy](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/paula-100x150.jpg)
by Erik Arneson
Skates–sailboat–horse: if it moves, let’s see if it can move faster. She came to motorsports only in her thirties and then almost by accident, but it stuck and she was good with anything she drove. But she almost missed this biography, dying just a few months later.
Happy Lucky Days – My Life in Racing
![Happy Lucky Days – My Life in Racing](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Happy-Lucky-Days-129x150.jpg)
by Bob Evans
Racing in the the glory days of F5000, Evans showed plenty of talent but as his entertaining and candid autobiography shows, scoring points and wins has a lot to do with factors outside a driver’s control.
Ed Pink, The Old Master
![Ed Pink, The Old Master](https://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ED-PINK-103x150.jpg)
by Ed Pink with Bones Bourcier
There was a time, before crew chiefs, when engine builders were as famous as the star drivers because they saw to every aspect of a car’s performance. Having built thousands of engines, at 92, Pink has finally called it quits.