Salute To Wally Parks: ‘No Sad Music For Me’

First in a series, as told by Richard Parks

By Susan Wade

Richard Parks, the elder of National Hot Rod Association founder Wally Parks’ two sons, has compiled an extensive history of his family and of the events leading up to the establishment of drag racing’s premier sanctioning body.

He has given permission to Thoughts Racing to share excerpts from his voluminous compilation. This is the first installment in a tribute to the remarkable man who passed away 15 years ago this September.

Thoughts Racing is privileged to share recollections about and from Wally Parks, from his early days through his military service and on throughout his professional career. Some segments are Richard Parks’ recollections at Gone Racin’, others a combination of documents and a son’s memories of his famous father.

Although Wally Parks passed away September 28, 2007, and the drag-racing and motorsports world and the community he touched bid him a fond farewell in the days that followed, his family and friends gathered March 22, 2008, for a more intimate celebration of life. Here are Richard Parks’ memories of that special get-together at the Claim Jumper Restaurant at Fountain Valley, Calif.

PARKS, WALLY CELEBRATION OF LIFE Gone Racin’ . . . Family Celebration of Life for Wally Parks on March 22, 2008. Story by Richard Parks.

Wally Parks was a pioneer in so many different ways, and yet he was truly one of many during the “Greatest Generation that America has ever had.”

He had two sons, David and Richard Parks, and they hosted this event. Dad wouldn’t have wanted us to use the term “greatest” to describe him or his friends. He was a humble man in many regards and would have pointed out that our Pilgrim ancestors, or those who fought in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, had every right to be called our “greatest generation.” In fact, he would have insisted on it, as he never wanted to draw attention to his achievements.

Wally Parks was born only a generation removed from the beginnings of the automotive era. He knew many of the men who created the automobile and set us on a course that changed the world. The automobile became feasible in the 1890s and a decade later the piston engine made flight available.

Here’s a recap of the . . . program.

“Wallace Gordon Parks, or Wally as the world would come to know him, was born on January 23, 1913, in Goltry, Oklahoma. His family moved to Kansas, where he lived as a boy. In 1921, his family came west to California. Dad recalled how they would drive during the day and camp out by the side of the road at night.

Dad grew up in Southern California, where he fell in love with the new car culture that was developing there. He first went to the dry lakes with his friends in 1931 to watch the land-speed time trials, and he was hooked.

Dad met Mary Mant in 1934 at a diner where she worked. Mom said that she knew that he was the one that she wanted to marry the moment that she saw him, and they were married in December of 1935.

Still involved with racing, Dad and a group of his friends formed the Road Runners car club, and he was one of the founders of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) in November of 1937. Over the years he served as Secretary, President, and General Manager of the SCTA. He also served as the Editor and Cartoonist for the SCTA Times newsletter. He worked for General Motors before the war, and as production shifted from cars to tanks for World War II, he became a tank test driver. In May, 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the South Pacific, where he kept his hand in hot rodding by building a V-8 powered jeep.

His first son, Richard, was born in 1944, while he was fighting in the South Pacific theater. Following his return from the war, Dad went back to work at General Motors, but a strike at the plant caused him to go to work elsewhere. He became the first professional editor of Hot Rod Magazine in 1949. and two years later he formed the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), becoming its first President. Illegal street racing was a problem at the time, and he felt that he could have an impact by forming an association that offered young people an alternative. He knew how to choose talented and enthusiastic people to help him.

His second son, David, was born in 1952. Wally and Mary divorced in 1960. The NHRA now occupied Dad’s full attention and he soon left Petersen Publishing Company, where he had risen to the position of Editorial Director. He married for a second time to Barbara Livingston. Barbara was the secretary at NHRA for many years, and her efforts helped to ensure the success of that organization. Barbara passed away in 2006.

Dad was proud of his achievements in land-speed racing and for his successful work to get the Bonneville Salt Flats for the SCTA to race on. He has been inducted into numerous Halls of Fame and Honorary Societies. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California, is named in his honor. He also was very proud of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He passed away in Burbank, California, on September 28, 2007 at the age of 94.”

Also in the program were photographs showing a progression from his early childhood through various achievements, professionally and with his family. The back cover showed one of his cartoons, which he drew while fighting in the Philippines during World War II. Gifted as an artist, hot rodder, writer, poet, editor, musician, and cartoonist, Dad was self-taught in all of these fields. He could tell a story with his cartoons and get them past the censors in the Army, whose job it was to keep the mail from failing into the hands of the enemy. They are prized possessions today and eagerly sought after.

He wrote the following poem that was read by his son David, entitled No Sad Music For Me, by Wally Parks (self-obituary 5 February 1970). (Editor’s notes – spacing required that I change it from poem to paragraph format)

“Sooner or later all things must die. Only the sun seems invincible. And so it becomes each man’s responsibility to garner as much and contribute as much as he can during his indefinite term’s existence upon this earth. Some people are fortunate in being able to live a lifetime in a few short years. Others linger on for many years, often failing to realize the rewards they are attaining. As for me, I have lived many lifetimes during the years I have relished on this earth. The friends I have known and the people I have loved (many of them undoubtedly unaware) have been more rewarding, more gratifying than all other things combined. To those who are left behind I would like to express these assurances. We have worked together, fought together, argued, and defended one another. We have shared our misgivings and sorrows just as we have shared our satisfactions when a job was well done. In the many phases of my lifetimes there were many things for which to be thankful. Fortunately, there have been very few times when I didn’t look forward to the new day. For this I can only credit the people with whom I was associated. Their tolerance and their forgiveness of my shortcomings was not unnoticed nor unappreciated, although I suspect they too were often unaware. And now, having lived these many years, I can truthfully say that I am satisfied. There will always be new goals one would like to accomplish, but such ambitions only come as a result of the happiness one feels as a result of past achievements. For me, there is no real regret in leaving – only an aching concern about the feelings of those left behind. It would be my wish that instead of traditional sad-sounding music, my services could enjoy a happy, happy note. To me it’s a celebration, commemorating the many years I have been fortunate to spend among the greatest people there are. If I could offer but one bit of advice, it would be: Look around you at the good people you know, don’t take them for granted, as they’re most of what makes life worth living. Enjoy each day, despite its discomforts and shortcomings, and take a little time to appreciate even the little things that are good. So join me now in celebration, for I have gained far more than one man could ever contribute. You, my friends, have made it all possible. Let the music have a happy note, and be glad that one’s life was so abundantly rewarded as mine has been. I sincerely hope yours will be even richer, in rewards far beyond any monetary equal.”