Although he personally might take umbrage to being referred to as a "Gentleman", one of the greatest people I met in this sport was Joseph Lee Price.

Joe could do it all: Build superb boats, put together a strong engine, and most of all, bang out a record-setting propellor with the best of them. And it goes without saying, he was one damn fine partier.

In the mid 70's, Joe came to live in the loft apartment in the old Craig-Craft shop down on the Edmonds waterfront. I got talking to Joe once and found out he was a fine Jazz musician. He played piano and trombone, and toured for a brief time with Les Brown's Orchestra in his younger days.

So, I'd grab a case of Vitamin R, a stack of Basie Albums, and go up to Joe's place in the evening and shoot the sh*t with him about music for a few hrs--and usually would leave with a couple of new props Joe would have for me.

The neat thing about Joe was that he didn't care who you were: If you were a front runner or a back marker, he didn't care. If you needed a prop, he'd make the best possible wheel for you. This used to really infuriate the Selvidges and Morrie Shuman, who were basically paying Joe's expenses. If a new kid who had previously been in the back of pack went out in J and beat the Shuman boys, you could almost bet for sure he was running a new Joe wheel. Needless to say, this never sat too well with the Shuman team.

Then there was the year Joe had the "Prop Auction" at Lawrence Lake about 1974 or so on Friday night. Guys were bidding (and winning) props at prices like 25 cents or a $1.50---then setting records with these props the next day.

And I won't even TELL you about the Legendary "Joe Price Variety Hour" at Pateros, which to this day, I truly believe was a determining factor in Bob Wartinger's divorce a short time later.

Joe was truly a one-of-a-kind, and one of the most gifted craftsman in all of outboard racing. I still miss him.

R-19