Memories of The Bear: A biography of Denny Hulme

by Eoin Young, Jackie Stewart (Foreword by)

When Denny Hulme won the 1967 Formula 1 World Championship, he jokingly asked Jim Clark to do 'the fame bit' for him as he so disliked being in the spotlight. Behind the wheel of a racing car, however, the self-effacing New Zealander, known affectionately as 'The Bear', showed ferocious determination. Racing was a passion. This book charts his illustrious career, which included eight Grand Prix victories and two CanAm sports car titles.

Genres: Biography

416 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Hulme is not much remembered outside of car racing circles, in his prime, he was a Formula 1 champion, and Bruce McLaren's on-track right-hand man. Young had a very close relationship with Hulme, and this is a complete life of the man, warts and all. That he is not better remembered might be a comment on how Hulme, who seemed to want acclaim in his native New Zealand, wasn't prepared to do the work needed to win the spotlight. Gaining some reputation as a dirty competitor also didn't help. Be that as it may, the best part of this book is devoted to the Can-Am race car series of the Sixties and the Seventies, and I found a lot of the minutiae to be fascinating; they just don't go racing like that anymore.