Burt Levy Entertains Members With Tales of Racing and Writing

Those who attended the Chicago Region membership meeting on April 19 at K1 Speed were treated to an evening of storytelling by the World’s Fastest Novelist, Burt “B.S.” Levy. Levy is a vintage-sportscar racer and author of six (so far) popular motorsports novels and a collection of short stories. His presentation, complete with video and sound effects, kept the audience laughing as he recounted some of his misadventures on and off the track.

Burt started by summarizing and reading from his first book, The Last Open Road – the tale of young gas-station mechanic Buddy Palumbo and his experiences in road racing in the 1950s. Levy explained how he came up with the book’s well-known logo and how publication of his second novel, Montezuma’s Ferrari, was funded with advertising, which earned it the 2000 Benjamin Franklin Book of the Year award for innovation in independent book publishing. The presentation also covered Levy’s careers as an auto repair shop operator, car salesman, vintage-auto racer and “ride mooch.” His books and The Last Open Road merchandise were available for purchase.

Paul Zimmerman, owner of The Motorsport Collector store, was scheduled to be there as well but was unable to attend. Paul’s appearance with his display of automotive collectibles and art will be rescheduled for a future membership meeting.