In case you forgot what John Keel was all about...

Thanks for posting this Richard!

Those of us that had a chance to actually meet and know John will never forget who he was and what he was about. For those out that never got a chance to actually meet John and only know him by name, his story is incredible. Very smart, inteligent, young man who was taken from us long before he should have been.
 
Though it's hard to really sum up all who John was in just the time of a movie, it does a good job. You may want to search for the Car and Driver article of the same name too. John Phillips did a good job researching it by talking to John's family and those PCS members that knew him best.

Sarah
 
I was at a local car show recently with my hearse and one guy was admiring the car. In conversation, he started telling me about a magazine article he had read about "this amazing kid" who was infatuated with everything about hearses. I reached into my car and brought out the Car & Driver issue and asked "Do you mean this magazine?"
 
I thought John was a weird kid that shot ALOT of video. I never really gave the respect I should have until I had some one one time with him at CW Coach. I was amazed at not only how much info he had on coach builders and models but also how they were constructed. I hardly knew him.
 
Though it's hard to really sum up all who John was in just the time of a movie, it does a good job. You may want to search for the Car and Driver article of the same name too. John Phillips did a good job researching it by talking to John's family and those PCS members that knew him best.

Sarah

I've got the .PDF version for whoever's interested in the Car And Driver article.

Jim
 
John Keel

As others have already said.... he was a very unique and focused young person that you would never forget once you met him.

I was reminded the other day that I actually won the very first John Keel Memorial Award at the 2003 Go-West Convention for "Best of Show" presented by Ann Keel for our former (X-Moffat County General Hospital / Craig, CO) 1956 Meteor-Cadillac Ambulance..... now owned by Hewy & Ruth Wick. It's later redesignation to recognize youthful enthusiasm in a PCS Member I believe is far more appropriate...... but the honor and large trophy nevertheless was very appreciated at the time! MM
 
I wish I had known more about him when in Michigan for I'm confident Terri and I would have taken a detour through LaPorte, MI. on our way back. We will get there one day for sure.
 
I'm a latecomer to this site and only recently became aware of the John Keel story. I tried to buy the DVD "The Boy Who Loved Hearses" but bside.com is apparently going out of business. Do anyone know where else I might find a DVD of this film?
 
Hello. Does anyone have an active link to the documentary or know where a copy could be purchased? Being relatively new to the PCS I’d like to learn more about John. Thank you.
 
Wow, what an incredible story! Of course I've heard of John Keel and am familiar with the John R. Keel award but until now I was really never very familiar with who he was other than a pro-car enthusiast who died at a young age. What a sad story that is, but what an amazing young man. So tragic that we lost him so soon.
 
The story of John telling his mom about not taking pictures of Dan Aykroyd is 100% true, John spent that afternoon with me, and I was standing with him and his mom when he said that. He was a good kid, very knowledgeable, and I think he would have grown up to be Walt McCall (well, there will never be another Walt, but John would have been just like Walt). I miss him still.
 
The story of John telling his mom about not taking pictures of Dan Aykroyd is 100% true, John spent that afternoon with me, and I was standing with him and his mom when he said that. He was a good kid, very knowledgeable, and I think he would have grown up to be Walt McCall (well, there will never be another Walt, but John would have been just like Walt). I miss him still.
Steve, is Dan Aykroyd a professional car enthusiast? I know he wanted a '59 Cadillac Miller-Meteor or S&S for our collective "favorite movie" (this is what he told to the guys who recently restored the original Ecto-1 when he came to view it, which I watched on youtube). I was really surprised that he seemed familar with those specific coachbuilders (I'm also curious why he didn't include Superior or Eureka, was he not familar with them, or perhaps he was/is only a M-M/S&S enthusiast?).
 
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