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Phrases, Smiles, Laughter and the Battered Child Seal Face.
With nice disappointment I’ve to report the passing of Jack Riepe, author, speaker, and evangelist of BMW Ok bikes. Particularly the K75 fashions. His humor was evident within the month-to-month BMW House owners Information column he wrote, in his books, his talks and shows, and in any dialog you may need with him.
The motorbike world misplaced somebody particular.
Within the above picture Jack was demonstrating to me his Battered Child Seal look. A signature search for him akin to Zoolander’s Blue Metal. He insisted any lady he was interested by melted from that gaze. Seeing them flock round him on the BMW Rally in Bloomsburg I sort of believed him.
Writer and Author
Jack requested me if I’d take a look at a draft of “Conversations with a Motorbike” which arrived in my mailbox a number of days after agreeing to learn it with the stipulation that my spouse Kim, the true author and editor in our home might learn it too.
To say it was humorous doesn’t do the guide or Jack’s talent with phrases justice. However I’ve a robust reminiscence of that manuscript burned in my mind. I used to be strolling down the hallway and I might hear my spouse howling with laughter within the toilet. She was studying the manuscript.
Kim isn’t interested by driving, BMWs, Ok-Bikes, or something in any respect associated to bikes. However Jack’s storytelling ascended far past such mundane subjects to embrace a sensitivity to time, place, individuals, and emotion that I don’t discover typically. Edward Abbey’s “The Idiot’s Progress” comes closest to Jack’s voice and sensitivities for me. It’s considered one of my favourite books.
I rode with that vast manuscript for every week, studying it at cafe stops earlier than calling Jack on the telephone to share my ideas.
The Good Driving Novel
When Jack despatched the primary printed version it got here alongside on my rides. An ideal companion that at all times left me smiling.
We talked on the telephone periodically however by no means crossed paths once more. Plans have been made to satisfy at rallies and diners however neither of us appeared in a position to make it occur. Our lives have been shifting in several instructions.
However what was great about Jack was his unbridled enthusiasm for plans and concepts. At the same time as his well being declined he was telling me concerning the motorbike he wished to purchase and when he deliberate to experience it throughout America to place his toes within the Pacific Ocean.
I’m positive that’s what he’s doing now. Jack Riepe’s vitality persists in a world that wants extra laughter.
His present to all of us.
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