Several club members attended a talk, Q&A and book-signing session on the last Saturday in February, hosted by Bexhill library.​

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The book's author was Formula 1 and motorsport journalist and Bexhill resident, Luke Smith who currently reports for The Athletic, a part of the New York Times organisation. Luke has written a book entitled 'On The Grid' which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the sport, and for which a comment from Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff reads "Luke is one of the foremost journalists within the paddock. His book draws the curtain back on our sport... Very few titles have covered the stories of the unsung members of the F1 community in this level of detail and with such vibrancy" - high praise indeed!
 

The library staff were most accommodating and to our surprise, reserved the front row of the Q&A session for our club's representatives. The Q&A itself was excellent, with a well-briefed host asking questions of interest before opening the session to the floor.

 

Following the Q&A, I asked Luke whether he would be willing to open our August Bank Holiday show, and he appeared genuinely taken aback, saying he would be delighted to do so if his schedule allowed. Within 48 hours, Luke emailed (from his seat on a flight to Melbourne for the first F1 race of the season) to say that he could indeed be with us on the day - excellent news!

 

Below is a link to an interview with Luke on YouTube.

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MH