Board Track Racing | KING OF THE BOARDS: The Life and Times of Jimmy Murphy, Customer Comments

Gary,

It is an overused adjective, but your book is absolutely the best! I am proud to have my work among so many other terrific artists, but more exciting in a book that is a definitive work, a benchmark.

Jim Deitz

Dear Gary,

King of the Boards arrived last Friday and it's the best book I've seen in the last 10 years on a racing topic. This is a real work of art and a credit to you, the printer's and the binder's.

George King, Australia

As the co-owner of a specialist automotive book business www.lmgauto.com it would be impractical for me to attempt to read every copy of every book that passes through our hands. However, we recently acquired a copy of Gary Doyle’s “King of the Boards”, which prompted a visit to his website. The testimonials of others that had read the book piqued my interest such that I selected his book as my next “read” and I was not disappointed. It is obvious that Gary has done a huge amount of research and the opening chapters draw the reader into the era with facts and figures of all manner and appropriately sets the scene for Murphy’s life story. This is a not just another racing book, it is a well-researched document from an author that is not afraid to refute longstanding errors with evidence that is difficult to dispute. It is also an entertaining and very personal insight into one of the great drivers of the board track era. Gary, you have written a book that nicely balances academia with human interest. It’s a great read and should be in every racing enthusiasts library - highly recommended.

Dave McClure – LMG Books, Art & Automobilia.

Gary Doyle’s accomplishment in researching, writing and publishing the definitive biography of Jimmy Murphy is stunning and deserves the admiration and appreciation of all serious students of motor sport. As an American, I have always been aware of Murphy’s great victory in the 1921 French Grand Prix and I knew he was an Indy winner (1922). Doyle brings to light a rich perspective on Jimmy Murphy’s life and expands our knowledge and appreciation of the great era of board racing that Murphy dominated from 1920 to 1924. His chapter on Murphy and the Duesenberg expedition to France in 1921 is worth the price of admission by itself. The quality and presentation of the photos and the other artwork is breathtaking. Sadly, in today’s publishing world a book of this sort would never have seen the light of day in this format if Gary Doyle had not the courage to self publish – and therefore be true to his own vision of the story as he wanted to tell it.

If this all seems a bit breathless – I plead guilty. Seldom have I been as genuinely excited and involved in a new work – and by a first time author.

Michael Argetsinger

Hello Gary ,

Just wanted to inform you I received your book in excellent condition. Although I have read only the first two chapters, it seems necessary to put it down and tell you what a great work this is. As for the artwork, the fact that you have the texture and layering all the way from Helck to Robert Williams with a little Thomas Hart Benton thrown in pretty much says it all!! The other thing you have mastered where others have come up short is setting the feeling for the times and the everyday details of the person in a profoundly human way. I feel this is important in these types of books, else they become dry, semi-technical presentations that only engineers can read without a bit of mental wandering. The only other (recent) book I am familiar with ...that approaches a subject similar to yours is the book on Floyd Dreyer. Although not nearly refined as your work, it does manage to convey the humanity in a racing centered book. All in all, I would think you to be quite proud of this effort! Must go now, have a book to indulge myself in.

Regards,

Ron Deaver

Hello Gary,

I have finished your book on Jimmy Murphy. It was incredible. It is already on loan to a friend who is also a racing freak. I found your methods of research to be very fascinating. As you so well stated much of “racing history” is a compilation of old stories that tend to get passed on from author to author. Smokey Yunick, in his trilogy, stated that Joe Scalzo wrote six or seven stories about him, and got them all wrong to some degree or other. It is obvious that you have written a true history as well as a story. I was somewhat skeptical when you identified yourself as a part of Murphy’s “family” as to how true you would be to the facts. No such skepticism exists after reading the book. Your bibliography is most outstanding. I enjoyed going through some of the books listed, and it brought a rush of new insight, as well as elevated appreciation of a bygone era. In my own limited knowledge I found only one mistake. Since I don’t have the book before me I can’t state the page, but you state that 3 drivers lost their lives in the 1919 Indy 500, when it was two drivers and a mechanic...a very small error, but one that also shows that for all of your vast amount of information it appears to be virtually error free. If you decide to undertake another history please add me to your list of customers. Thanks again.

A most appreciative racing fan,

Daniel Wallace