Stu Chapman asked me to write a note for him (unfortunately his sight is not what it recently was, and using the computer has become impractical).
He is thinking about a dark day in Studebaker history - the December 9th, 1963 announcement that the corporation was intending to shut down manufacturing and assembly operations at it's hometown plant in South Bend in it's home state of Indiana. Stu had just been with the company (in Hamilton) for only about 3 months and all of a sudden the product line would be shorn of the elegant Hawk (a good product for the up-and-coming personal luxury car sales category) and the Avanti (Studebaker's then-famous "flagship" youthful performance car) and trucks (a profitable product line that had long set Studebaker apart from other independent auto makers). He had just attended the funeral of the Mercedes-Benz of Canada General Manager who died in an airline crash outside of Montreal, and sales were at a low ebb, thanks to the assassination of JFK, barely two weeks before. What else could go wrong? Well, a close associate and one of his bosses, the Director of Advertising and Public Relations, Paul Durish, was soon to resign (with the agreement of Studebaker of Canada President Gordon Grundy!) and Stu was promoted to take his place!
Whew! What a ride! But he certainly doesn't regret having signed on ( the dynamic Sherwood Egbert was still in charge in South Bend in late summer of '63) to employment at what we now know was a company whose largest division was very soon to be scuttled by it's own management (after Egbert had to resign) !
Studebaker's history is surely fascinating and still unfolding to a degree. Stu was and is part of it, and has it has remained a large and rewarding part of his life! He also remains a remarkable source of knowledge on the subject, of course, and welcomes any calls from those who are also fascinated with our favorite subject. In fact, he asked to include his phone number : 1-905-912-5312. He'd love to hear from you!
He is thinking about a dark day in Studebaker history - the December 9th, 1963 announcement that the corporation was intending to shut down manufacturing and assembly operations at it's hometown plant in South Bend in it's home state of Indiana. Stu had just been with the company (in Hamilton) for only about 3 months and all of a sudden the product line would be shorn of the elegant Hawk (a good product for the up-and-coming personal luxury car sales category) and the Avanti (Studebaker's then-famous "flagship" youthful performance car) and trucks (a profitable product line that had long set Studebaker apart from other independent auto makers). He had just attended the funeral of the Mercedes-Benz of Canada General Manager who died in an airline crash outside of Montreal, and sales were at a low ebb, thanks to the assassination of JFK, barely two weeks before. What else could go wrong? Well, a close associate and one of his bosses, the Director of Advertising and Public Relations, Paul Durish, was soon to resign (with the agreement of Studebaker of Canada President Gordon Grundy!) and Stu was promoted to take his place!
Whew! What a ride! But he certainly doesn't regret having signed on ( the dynamic Sherwood Egbert was still in charge in South Bend in late summer of '63) to employment at what we now know was a company whose largest division was very soon to be scuttled by it's own management (after Egbert had to resign) !
Studebaker's history is surely fascinating and still unfolding to a degree. Stu was and is part of it, and has it has remained a large and rewarding part of his life! He also remains a remarkable source of knowledge on the subject, of course, and welcomes any calls from those who are also fascinated with our favorite subject. In fact, he asked to include his phone number : 1-905-912-5312. He'd love to hear from you!
Mark: Is Stu still able to read greetings sent to him via e-mail if the sender takes the time to send the message in 
BP
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