Ron Hill
10-13-2006, 11:26 PM
MEL ZIKES:
Now Mel broke into boat racing with a Champion Hot Rod, 1956, that he bought from my dad. He was like never successful but enjoyed the races. He lived in SoCal for a long time. Then, he got some kind of a UNION BOSS job in NorCal and we didn't see much of him.
He was a pretty good friend of Dave Severson and Jerry Tidwell (They started Power Boat Magazine). They had everyone and anyone writing for them because they basically had a habit of not paying too much for articles.... Severson lived in Garden Grove, when I lived in Garden Grove.
He "Started" boat racing magazines at the time. He had started Raceboat, maybe Hot Boat,...I don't know what but usually he printed one or two issues, got all the racers to sign up and for whatever reason ended up going broke.
So, when he needed more money, or got investors, he started more magazines. He was so honest with me, I never thought that he was basically dishonest, maybe there wasn't enough business to carry a magazine. He once got me on TV with the Regis Philbin Show before Havasu. He also had me carry the ABC Wide World of Sports camera in my boat...Pretty cool in those days.
When The World Championship where just getting going at Havasu, Larry Laurie and Associates did McCullough's PR. Dave Severson did all of the Havasu Classic Programs. With McCullough's money, Dave's personality...guys like me and Mel Zikes liked the free food and adult beverages. So we "hung out" with Dave.
We weren't really employees but I'd help sell subscriptions and talk to the good looking women. So, out of the blue Ole Nordskog buys Power Boat...and starts paying employees...everyone kind of goes "WOW"...I wrote two articles for Power Boat, but only one got published...(It took a month for Nordskog to get control)...
But Mel Zikes stayed on for years. He followed the Outboard Scene... Guys like Slick Johnson, who, I think, invented the Jaws of Life for NASCAR, used to put on SHRIMP BOILS for all the tunnel races...Mel and I would stand around, drink beer and eat shrimp. He never took notes, just listened to my BS and went and wrote for POWERBOAT.
I seems to me, it might have been one of THOSE THURSDAY NIGHTS before Parker down , hell can't remember the name, but Jimmy Hauenstein, me and Mel and few others may have played pool too much....Oh, The Sportsman, but I think Nordskog decided he didn't need Mel's services anymore.
Nobody EVER OWNED MEL. I might have been Galveston, when he was setting in the FOUNTAIN at the hotel... that really might have been the end of his writing for POWERBOAT. Mel was one crazy sum bitch!!!<!-- / message -->
Now Mel broke into boat racing with a Champion Hot Rod, 1956, that he bought from my dad. He was like never successful but enjoyed the races. He lived in SoCal for a long time. Then, he got some kind of a UNION BOSS job in NorCal and we didn't see much of him.
He was a pretty good friend of Dave Severson and Jerry Tidwell (They started Power Boat Magazine). They had everyone and anyone writing for them because they basically had a habit of not paying too much for articles.... Severson lived in Garden Grove, when I lived in Garden Grove.
He "Started" boat racing magazines at the time. He had started Raceboat, maybe Hot Boat,...I don't know what but usually he printed one or two issues, got all the racers to sign up and for whatever reason ended up going broke.
So, when he needed more money, or got investors, he started more magazines. He was so honest with me, I never thought that he was basically dishonest, maybe there wasn't enough business to carry a magazine. He once got me on TV with the Regis Philbin Show before Havasu. He also had me carry the ABC Wide World of Sports camera in my boat...Pretty cool in those days.
When The World Championship where just getting going at Havasu, Larry Laurie and Associates did McCullough's PR. Dave Severson did all of the Havasu Classic Programs. With McCullough's money, Dave's personality...guys like me and Mel Zikes liked the free food and adult beverages. So we "hung out" with Dave.
We weren't really employees but I'd help sell subscriptions and talk to the good looking women. So, out of the blue Ole Nordskog buys Power Boat...and starts paying employees...everyone kind of goes "WOW"...I wrote two articles for Power Boat, but only one got published...(It took a month for Nordskog to get control)...
But Mel Zikes stayed on for years. He followed the Outboard Scene... Guys like Slick Johnson, who, I think, invented the Jaws of Life for NASCAR, used to put on SHRIMP BOILS for all the tunnel races...Mel and I would stand around, drink beer and eat shrimp. He never took notes, just listened to my BS and went and wrote for POWERBOAT.
I seems to me, it might have been one of THOSE THURSDAY NIGHTS before Parker down , hell can't remember the name, but Jimmy Hauenstein, me and Mel and few others may have played pool too much....Oh, The Sportsman, but I think Nordskog decided he didn't need Mel's services anymore.
Nobody EVER OWNED MEL. I might have been Galveston, when he was setting in the FOUNTAIN at the hotel... that really might have been the end of his writing for POWERBOAT. Mel was one crazy sum bitch!!!<!-- / message -->