Wheels’ truck/van writer, who died in Kingston, was there for famous snub
In 1993, the founders of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, Gary Magwood and Lee Abrahamson, thought it would be a terrific idea to announce the first group of inductees as if it was the Academy Awards.
They held a black-tie dinner at the Four Seasons Yorkville hotel, arranged for world F1 champion and world motorcycle champion John Surtees to be guest speaker, and invited a whole group of nominees to attend without telling them whether they were in or out.
Now, I have to emphasize this: most were going to make it. Only one or two might have to wait till next year. Or whenever. It was a free dinner, in that Magwood and Abrahamson had arranged for sponsorship from Toronto Star Wheels but they still had to watch their pennies. They didn’t want to stick the Star with dinner tabs for a whole bunch of losers rather than just a few.
Among the attendees was Canada’s first Formula One driver, George Eaton. He had 11 starts with BRM, starting with the 1969 U.S. Grand Prix. He arrived with Wheels writer Cam McRae – Cam died this week in Kingston; more about him below – and they shared a table at the dinner. I considered Eaton a shoo-in and although I wasn’t on the Star at the time, I was sure McRae, who was wearing his trademark newsboy cap along with his tuxedo and who was a personal friend of Eaton’s, was there to get the inside story of his reaction to being selected.
Now, I was there to represent the family of the late Billy Foster, once thought to be Canada’s first Indianapolis 500 driver. (It turns out he was the seventh, but in 1993, who knew?) I was sitting at a table with Jean Gauthier, former owner of Shannonville Motorsport Park, and we were handicapping the field. He agreed with me that Foster would make it (although I’m not sure he knew who Foster was and might just have been being nice to a tablemate), and figured Eaton would be called, as would Bill Brack and, of course, the late Gilles Villeneuve (represented that night by his young teenage son, Jacques, who sported long hair in a pony tail), Bob McLean, Peter Ryan, Eppie Wietzes, Bill Sadler and so-on.
With due respect, we did not think John Cannon was worthy, nor was Chuck Rathgeb. Imperial Tobacco, we thought, was a lock because of its support for the sport that went above and beyond. Yes, Imperial sold a lot of Player’s cigarettes over the years but motorsport events and drivers benefitted immensely.
Imagine our surprise – we just about fell off our chairs, in fact – when Cannon and Rathgeb were selected and Eaton was not. And yes, Foster was named to that first class, but that isn’t the story.
The story was that one of Canada’s most famous racing drivers, one of Canada’s most prominent sportsmen, had been snubbed at a black-tie dinner in front of several hundred people and newspaper and TV reporters. Talk about embarrassing.
McRae wrote about light trucks and vans for Wheels and was one of the most respected automotive reporters in the country. A few years ago, when I was still editor of Wheels, I talked to Cam about him possibly rejoining the roster of writers that I considered to be the finest in the country. During one of our chats, I just had to find out: what was it like that night when George Eaton had to leave the Four Seasons Yorkville with his tail tucked between his legs?
“He wasn’t very happy about it, let’s put it that way,” Cam said. “If I recall correctly, he said something to the effect that regardless of what happened in future, he would never have anything ever again to do with that Hall of Fame.” He never has, either, even though he was inducted in absentia at the second ceremonial black-tie in 1994. And McRae never wrote a word for Wheels about that night,
Cam, meantime, taught psychology and communication studies at Wilfrid Laurier University for more than 25 years and had successful parallel careers in – as mentioned – journalism as well as the marine industry.
As his obit in the Whig-Standard put it, he was a loving husband and kind father and was beloved by his family and friends.
“Car racing was a passion, most recently with his 1959 Abarth as a member of the Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada. Cam loved being out on the water and was an avid boater. He was a protector of animals and conservation of the natural world was very important to him.”
As will we all.
Robert Cameron McRae leaves his wife Diana and their son Rob. He was 78 years old.
Keyword: The Night Cam McRae went to Dinner with George Eaton