WPO Communications run by Tony Bailey - Mike Hawthorn, a new book by Tony Bailey to be published in late 2008

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Mike Hawthorn - Golden Boy

A New Book about 1958 F1 World Champion Mike Hawthorn
To be published in advance of the 50th Anniversary of his Death

Mike Hawthorn Golden Boy Book example pages

The Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site

Since I created Mike's Tribute Site in 2006, I've been completely taken aback by the volume of visitors and also really pleased with the amount and quality of information that's been sent from people who knew Mike or encountered him while at events and so on. I would also like to thank Nigel Webb for his continued support of the Tribute web site.

In particular, there has been contact so far from four people who actually worked with or knew Mike over longer periods – and this is in addition to others the site was already aware of. Two of these were Tourist Trophy Garage employees and they have not told their story in print before. We will also be talking to a school chum of Mike's who stayed friends and shared various exploits through to his death.

Using these memories and those of others, I'm pleased to announce that a new book on John Michael Hawthorn’s life away from the race-track is now in preparation. It will be published in advance of the 50th Anniversary of his death (22nd January 2009) and will also include the pioneering research on Mike undertaken by Paul Roach in the early 1990s. We have a number of well known authors on board to make this an enthralling read.

The Book

This book will primarily concentrate on Mike's personal life together with a full summary of his racing career from a noted motoring journalist, with input from many who actually knew him in daily life. It will also include some relevant articles that have been previously published only in specialist magazines. We anticipate it being a Limited Edition run, quantity to be determined. The working title is 'John Michael Hawthorn – Off Track' but this may change.

It will be a large format, hard-bound publication printed on semi-gloss art paper with jacket, size approx. 225mm x 297mm and with many hundreds of illustrations – many never seen in any book before. It is being produced in conjunction with Paul Skilleter Books - Paul wrote and published the acclaimed book on Norman Dewis, for which he recently won the Guild of Motoring Writers Montagu Award for the best researched and written motoring book of the year. He also published the recent major Ecurie Ecosse history by Eric Dymock. The Mike Hawthorn book will be of similar high quality to these books and will form a companion volume to them. Due to the specialised nature of the book, it is anticipated that only a limited number will be produced, together with a very special leather-bound edition with slip case, hopefully signed by someone closely connected to Mike, for those who want the best.

In the past few weeks, the project has taken on a life of its own with offers of help and information arriving daily from all over the world, some of major interest and importance to Mike's memory.

We would very much like to hear back from you if you feel you would possibly purchase the book so we can gauge how many we might need to print. The cost of the standard edition is highly dependent on the print run, but would hopefully be in the order of Ł35-45 plus shipping. The Special Edition will cost around Ł150.

A very rough and by no means fully decided guide to content is:

Title: John Michael Hawthorn - Off Track [working, not finalised]
Introduction
Preface
Chapter One:	Growing Up - Mike's school days and adventures
Chapter Two:	The family business - The Tourist Trophy Garage Ltd
Chapter Three:	Life with the Hawthorns - home and about with Mike and his family
Chapter Four:	Mike's Personal Cars
Chapter Five:	Le Mans 1955
Chapter Six:	A Special Jaguar - VDU 881
Chapter Seven:	A Champion's Girl
Chapter Eight:	The Road to the World Championship
Chapter Nine:	What really happened in 1959?
Chapter Ten:	Saying Goodbye
Chapter Eleven:	Memorials
Chapter Twelve:	Memorabilia
Chapter Thirteen:	Recollections
Chapter Fourteen:	Potpourri
Bibliography
Index

Are you Interested in the Book?

If you are interested in the book then please let us know via the Tribute Site's Registration page. We'll keep all Registered Members and who responds informed on progress.

INFORMATION YOU MAY HAVE

If you have further material or memories that you think could be included in the book, please also contact me. We particularly need anything you may have on the following:

a) The Hawthorn's House called Green Fields up on Folly Hill in Farnham - photos etc. Did you even live near it possibly? Did any of you know Michael as a child or at school?
b) The Tourist Trophy Garage in East Street, Farnham - we need contemporary photos plus any memories you have of the garage even if you just used it
c) Anything else that you think might be useful and that is related to personal knowledge of Mike
d) We would also like to hear from a professional sketch artist, preferably a Hawthorn fan, who might be able to assist us with illustrations for some of the chapters.

Michael's Tuck Box surfaces after 50 years!

In the May issue of Jaguar World Monthly, out in April, you will find an article by the site's Tony Bailey on an amazing find - Mike's original School 'Tuck Box' from the war years likely at Ardingly College. This has been unseen for over 50 years and I had full access to it via its current custodian. Read how it came to the family that owns it and what was in it .... This will naturally also be covered in the book but in more depth.

"Somehow, when you first look at and touch this little wooden box, with the name ‘J M HAWTHORN’ painted in black on the lid, you can’t help but think how the legendary Mike Hawthorn must have used this so often as a youngster, possibly sitting on it to sort his cigarette cards.

The chest itself is sturdily built in wood with metal corners and reinforcing plates. It has a lock but no longer a key. The remains of a luggage label on the side indicates that the trunk was sent on the Southern Railway from Farnham Station, most likely to Ardingly College in Sussex where Mike spent the war years from 1942 as a boarder ..."

“... I was on my way to School with Michael - there was a set of traffic lights in Farnham at the bottom of a hill on the way to the school. I remember Michael stopping there once and another car pulled up alongside us. Michael obviously knew the other driver and that he was indicating he’d like to race Michael away from the lights and up the hill! Michel didn’t, though, and I assume that was because I was in the car.

“I didn’t know him as a racing driver, of course - he was just a man to me, but very amiable and he seemed to get on with almost anyone.”

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