Friday, July 7th, 2017
Virginia native Jim Williamson is no stranger to the water. Born in Radford, his mother took him to Claytor Lake often. “I’ve been water skiing since I was 7,” he says. “Just about every month we’d come to the lake, even in the dead of winter.” The water craft of choice on cold days was
Friday, May 12th, 2017
When Alan Neely gets near an auction that has a buggy come up for bid, it’s likely he’ll raise his number. The black buggy dubbed the “Charles Dickens” sitting on the side of his hotel, the MacArthur...
Thursday, January 5th, 2017
When Todd Ratliff was growing up in far southwest Virginia, his grandfather nicknamed him Hot Rod Todd. Todd had caught the car bug from his grandfather, a car salesman, and his father, who loved to tinker with...
Friday, November 11th, 2016
Text by Karl H. Kazaks | Photos by Tom Wallace When Johnnie Self Jr. was in high school, he loved playing football for the Christiansburg Blue Demons, and he loved driving the car his father let...
Thursday, September 15th, 2016
Text and photos by Nathan Cooke When exploring Blacksburg, you often notice three things: maroon and orange outfits, gray limestone aka Hokie stone and city-style buses. Blacksburg Transit (BT) is responsible for most of the public...
Monday, July 18th, 2016
Watching Dr. Daniel Hurd drive his 2001 Ferrari 360 Modena is to experience the sublime. In every sense, the machine gives the impression of being a mechanical marvel. Its engine, even at low RPMs, emits a persistent,...
Thursday, March 24th, 2016
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace “Instantly, instinctively, you know.” So says the narrator of a 1959 television ad for Ford’s new top-of-the-line, full-size car, the Galaxie. As a boy, Curtis Nolen saw...
Wednesday, November 18th, 2015
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace You can tell a lot about people by the possessions they keep. Raymond Bishop owns three VW Beetles – orange, burgundy and black – which conveys something about...
Monday, September 28th, 2015
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace With his sinewy build, trim mustache, clear blue eyes and collected manner, Tony Royal comes off as a man of action. Put him in a flight...
Thursday, July 16th, 2015
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Nathan Cooke Reginald Davis knows what it’s like to feel a calling. He’s been a devoted religious man since 1977, when, as he says, “I met the Lord.” For the...