Mailbag - February 2022

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY Gary Gray rebuilt a 2001 Honda Insight into Shazam, which raced to a new land speed record for its category last August. (Photo: forsythefotography.com)

Shazam! What a story and photos

We can't thank The Buzz enough for your kind article about my family's land speed racing exploits that appeared in your December 2021 issue [Shazam! Land Speed Champ: Daughter and dad race to records]. The article by John Harris was extremely well written, and my daughter Caitlin and I really enjoyed our several interviews and many emails back and forth with John.  He successfully captured most of our experiences on the Bonneville Salt Flats raceway the past eight years. The photographs by Eric Forsythe (plus others) were excellent and also very appreciated.  

Shortly after the article appeared, our block had a party in which many new neighbors attended. We could see Shazam from the lawn of our hosts. Many people commented on the article, and there were lots of questions about our racing quest that were prompted by the great article. John wrote great opening lines: “The Gray family has a special gift this Christmas that won’t sit under their tree. They received it last August and it's in the record books.” It turns out The Buzz article was yet another special gift that did arrive in December, and a framed cover of the Bellaire edition was indeed under our tree!  

We also have to thank our friend, Sarah Flournoy, for submitting our story idea to The Buzz, and the Buzz for assigning such an excellent reporter and photographer to make our story come to life on your pages.  

Gary and Caitlin Gray

Enjoyed 20th-anniversary issue 

Congratulations, Joni [Hoffman], Michael [Hoffman], and The Buzz team. I enjoyed reading the 20th-anniversary issue [January 2022] so much. Thank you for bringing communities together and sharing peoples’ stories in such an uplifting way. 

Rhonda Graff  

Twenty years of magazine memories 

Congratulations on 20 years of The Buzz! I have enjoyed it all along, as well as Ginsberg participation, to include the camper [Happy Campers at Any Age, by Angie Frederickson, March 2010] and prank [Punk’d by Pranksters, by Dave Schafer, April 2011] stories, and of course, Sonny as your first Neighborhood Tails pet. 

Larry Ginsberg

Remembering friends

So enjoyed the Tanglewood walkers story [Walking the Boulevard, by Michelle Groogan, January 2006]. Thank you. It reminded me so much of our group of six that walked together for over 30 years, ending up with one, me, after people passed away, and moved.

In addition to the physical and mental health benefits, we celebrated weddings of children, visited each other’s gardens, parades, supported one another when ill, bonded over our spirituality, and more.

Each of us looked forward to our morning walks – two loops in summer, four in winter. Yes, we also had a T-shirt for our group. 

[In addition] you have tickled my memories with the article on Lillian Illig [The Constant Gardeners, by Michelle Groogan, April 2006], the second uplifting article on her over the years. Her Swiss heritage showed in her beautiful immaculately kept garden. It was a delight to walk with her periodically over the years, share plants and talk on all sorts of themes. She always had a smile from the first moment I met her to the last time I saw her near her passing.

Sometimes if I was with our group of our Tanglewood walkers and we met her on the Boulevard, we would all slow down to chat and walk with her. I was fortunate to also meet and get to know her loyal son who would walk with her on Sundays or weekends. Lillian was always a ray of sunshine! Thank you.

Virginia Mampre

Editor’s note: In honor of The Buzz Magazines' 20th anniversary, we selected a past article to feature online every day in January, including the 2006 articles Virginia referenced here. 

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