WARNING : CONTENTS MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR THOSE UNDER 50 YEARS OF AGE

Women

“ Hey , Doll !” was my dad ’ s favored greeting to women whether he knew them or not . Given that this was in the ’ 50s , an occasional “ Honey ,” “ Babe ” or “ Sweetie ” was also thrown about . This wasn ’ t sexist … it just was . Then the ’ 60s hit like a cultural tsunami , with part of the wave having women realize , “ We don ’ t have to take this shit any longer .” Those of us men brighter than a dull penny took the hint . What dumbfounds me is that women are still fighting for equal respect . When we — Lora and I — founded Thunder Press it was with the tacit understanding that women would be an important ,

8 | MAY 2020 | THUNDERPRESS . NET and equal , part of it . Why ? The better question was , Why not ?

The first columnist we signed was Wendy Perry , a charismatic lady who influenced an untold number of women riders and showed more than a few men how to ride a Springer . She broke the trail for several other columnists that followed , notably Kay Cardwell , who we recently lost , Susan Swan , Jan Vargas and Betsy Farrell . At one point I believe we had more female columnists that any other mainstream motorcycle pub .

Women among our regular contributors numbered in the dozens , including Barbara Joans , Felicia Morgan , Leslie Prevish , Cris Sommer-Simmons , Genevieve Schmidt , and Gail DeMarco . The first editor we hired was Annette Boyer , and when we broke the seal on the eastern edition , Susan Buck had the helm . By the way , it ’ s not too farfetched to say that Annette was the one that introduced proper grammar to yours truly … though I ’ ll never admit to it . If you walked into our office you ’ d find Debbie Macdonald holding sway over a crew that included Jennipher Wood , Lisa Clark , Robin Berrie and Birgit Heidgen .

And then there was this indispensable trio : Debra Allen , Kate Chickering and Bev “ Barracuda ” Nehmer – our first advertising team . Their efforts put Thunder Press on the map , and in the black . The key to working with them was to stand back and let it happen . Bev ’ s “ Barracuda ” tag came from an advertiser who told me , “ Once Bev got ahold of you she never let go until you advertised .”

According to the Motorcycle Industry Council ’ s most recent study

Longtime Thunder Press columnist Kay Cardwell . December 4 , 1941 to December 4 , 2019 . of the subject ( 2018 ) more than 19 percent of all riders are women . This is almost double the 2008 rate of 10 percent . Yet , I still find troglodytes that believe women have no place in the saddle ; “ That ’ s what the pillion is for !”

To those whose brains may have calcified let me give you something to think about . The abovementioned Cris Sommers-Simmons ’ motorcycle bio takes up pages , including her entry in the biennial “ Motorcycle Cannonball ” cross-country run on “ Effie ,” her 1915 Harley-Davidson . Then there ’ s Shayna Texter , a 5-foot tall , 95-pound American Flat Track racer who beats the boys and wins Nationals on a constant basis in the world ’ s toughest dirt track series .

Or how about Elisa Wirkala ? Haven ’ t heard of her ? Let me fill you in . A few years back this young Seattle schoolteacher flew to Chile , her mother ’ s home country , where she purchased a Honda CLG125 . I ’ m limited here to how much I can write , so let me condense the next part of her journey into one sentence . From Chile she rode that 125 to the tip of Argentina , turned around and rode up the length of South America , Central America , Mexico , California , Oregon and back home to Seattle . Pull out a map and check that out . I ’ m guesstimating , but I believe that trip works out to around 11,000 miles . On a 125cc motorcycle .

Not quite sure what my stepdad would say about this , but he wasn ’ t a dumb man so I ’ ll bet “ Doll ” wouldn ’ t be in his greeting to these women .

If you ’ d care to explain to Kittrelle why his existance on this planet is no longer required , email reg . kittrelle @ comcast . net