It was last month that I sat down to read about the new editor of Car and Driver magazine, Eddie Alterman. I’m usually not drawn to politics that leaves one man out while another one gets in. But this, after all, was the changing of the guard that doesn’t happen much in a lifetime and certainly not at the worldwide leader in automotive magazines. So regardless of whether it was economic strife dictating change, or the passing of the torch like Carson to Leno and Leno to Conan, I wanted to be part of it as it happens live. No Tivo, no Hulu, just us two, the strategically crafted thoughts of a new leader and me.
To my surprise Eddie’s first column spoke highly of his career start at Automobile Magazine and one man, David E. Davis Jr. Suprised that he found inspiration from one of the all time greats in the busines? Not really. Taken back that David E. now is writing for Car and Driver? Well, after being brushed aside from the magazine he founded, it wasn’t really a shock. Mr. Davis deserves every bit of a home coming. But please, someone could have at least warned me that Eddie interned at Automobile two years after me! Why am I not at the helm of C&D? Did David E. drape a t-shirt over your back while pondering the car board as if to say, “you’re one of the good ones Paul, you should run my magazine one day.” Didn’t think so.
Sure, I know what you’re saying, I’m off forging new ground not tethered to corporate thin cats looking for ad revenue scraps in the back alley. I’ve built a magazine from a Cannon PowerShot SD600 on a 2002 PowerBook G4. Yes, that’s a Mac and I’d have it no other way. With no overhead, Southern California as my car playground and a garage filled with stuff, I can draw inspiration from seemingly infinite places. But best of all, I don’t have to answer to anybody… save my wife and I’d have it no other way. Eddie, I wish you all the best from one ex-Automobiler to another. But I do find it slightly ironic that your second column is titled “Bourbon Fixes About Anything.” Cheers.
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