This biography of Beverly Kimes, was written by her beloved husband, Jim Cox. This is not a book about the illustrious career of Beverly Kimes, first woman editor of Automobile Quarterly, renowned author, or the foremost classic car historian of her time. But, a story about Beverly Kimes; daughter, sister, friend, mentor, wife, and inspiration to women and men who had the distinct honor of having her be part of their lives.
Determination is everything. This was her mantra, the creed that she lived by from the time she was a small girl growing up West Chicago, until the day she died in 2008. Beverly Kimes was a woman on a mission: to do whatever it was she was destined to do (and she did plenty!) by taking on a leadership role, and helping those who travelled with her.
This biography chronicles Beverly's early years, taken from copious notes, letters and pictures found in numerous personal scrapbooks saved over the years. It follows her adult life in New York, through her rise up the ranks to editor of Automobile Weekly, her notoriety as an automobile historian, and life with her husband, family and friends.
How does someone so determined for greatness, make it happen in a career she initially knew nothing about? When she went to her interview with Scott Baily at Automobile Quarterly, she told him, "The only thing I know about automobiles, is that I have a driver's license."
This inspiring story is about a woman, in a man's world, overcoming odds, getting involved, and touching the hearts of all types of people worldwide along the way. The road to greatness was not easy for Beverly, in fact it took its rocky turns. Life was filled with obstacles due to illness, circumstances, or just plain fate. But she travelled on, nonetheless, with dignity and style.
And for all who had come to know and love her, it was a hell of a ride!
Simply Bev ...
"Determination is Everything"By James H. CoxiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2010 James H. Cox
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4502-8222-2Chapter One
The Early Years
Beverly Rae Kimes was born in West Chicago, Illinois, August 17, 1939. She was the daughter of Raymond L. and Grace D. Parrin Kimes. Her middle name, Rae (after her father), would be of some help to her later on in life. She was nicknamed Fuzzy, for her lack of hair at birth ... and for sometime after.
Ray and Grace were married on November 25, 1937. Grace was a 1936 graduate of the Comptometer School, in Chicago. (The comptometer was a machine that was used, at that time, to keep company records for expenditures and sales.) She worked for Sears, Roebuck and Company at their headquarters, in Chicago until early 1939. At that time, pregnant with Beverly, she left her job and was given a glowing letter of recommendation from her boss. Typical of life back then, Grace stayed home to raise the family, and Ray went to work to support them. Grace did not re-enter the work force until the mid sixties, after both daughters were out on their own.
They lived in West Chicago for about two years, in a house with a backyard sandbox. On good days, Bev played in the sandbox. The house was close to the tracks of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad, her father's employer. When some of the trains passed, the engineers who knew Ray — and where he lived — would honk the train horn as a "hello" to Bev as she played.
Knowing that this was really not a desirable neighborhood for the family, and particularly for Bev, they started looking for other places to live. At the time, the search was somewhat hampered by Ray's earnings as a "fireman" for Chicago North Western. (His job was to shovel coal into the firebox of the locomotive.) The house search, however, would soon be changed by a stroke of good luck and Grace's brother, Howard, who was planning to relocate to California.
Since Howard and his wife, Vern, wanted to leave as soon as possible, a deal was struck between the two families. Howard and Vern packed up their things, and their two children, Jacquie and Bruce, and headed west. The Kimes family happily moved into Howard and Vern's former home at 515 South Hale Street. Once in California, Howard and Vern never returned to Wheaton for visits. (In later years, Bev did go to visit them; I accompanied her on a visit in the mid-eighties, which was the last time that she would make the trip.)
The house was sold as a "kit" through the Sears, Roebuck catalog (In the early 1900's, a vast array of things were sold this way; for example, the Sears Motor Buggy, a horseless carriage that Beverly would own later in her life.) There was a lot of painting and fixing that was needed to make the house a home. At the time, Ray was gone for days on runs with the railroad. While away, he sent many letters to Grace pleading with her not to work too hard and wait for him to return and help. In one letter, Ray said that due to lack of man power, he would be away a few days longer than expected; but this was good, because he was being paid $10.00 a day. As he put it, they "sure could use the extra money." In all his letters, he always asked, about "Snooky Pants," a nickname for Bev — but only used by him.
The repairs to the house were completed in a short time, and the family settled in for what would be a long time — 1942 to 1982. This was the only house that Bev lived in, until she went off to college in the Fall of 1957. Ray and Grace would continue to live there, until after his retirement from the railroad. Ray was an engineer at the time of his retirement and for many years prior. The reason he retired, as he put it, "I was just fed up with these new whippersnapper's telling me how to run my train." Ray and Grace retired to Eagle River, Wisconsin in 1982.
In the late 80's, Bev and I were out West on a summer vacation and, at Bev's request, we went to see 515. (The number was the only thing needed for the family to refer to their home.) There was a woman working outside, and Beverly got out of the car and approached her. As it turned out, she was quite friendly, and invited Bev and I inside to show Bev all the things that she and her husband had been doing to restore the house. They wanted it to appear as original as they could, as it has been back in the 1920's. This was a very happy day for Bev; not only did she get to revisit her childhood home, she also learned that someone caring now owned and lived at 515.
In March of 1942, Bev's sister, Sharon, was born; her nickname was "Muscles." In their early years, the girls didn't have too much in common. Sharon was a "tom boy," through and through. She preferred cars, trucks and toy gas stations. Beverly preferred dolls and other girly things.
On one occasion, Bev had just finished curtseying and seating her paper dolls, when Sharon snuck up from behind and blew them all down. To get even, Bev cut the strings on the car elevator of Sharon's service station.
Bev's favorite doll, Sparkle Plenty, which underwent many repairs by her father, was finally retired when she turned thirteen. The doll, along with many other childhood memories, were stored away in boxes and remained there till her death.
One of the favorite things for Bev, Sharon and their friends, were the ball games that they played in the back lot behind the house. Bev's father would do the pitching; her mom was the umpire. (There were many of these games when her father could be at home.)
There were summer vacation trips, during her growing-up years to various lakes: such as Lake Geneva in Illinois, or Lake Okauchee in Wisconsin. Bev made a footnote in her scrapbook, that said: "These visits were sexual summers, and always fun." By "sexual," Bev referred to interaction with boys, as in "flirting"; not to be interpreted as having sex. (Things were much different, in terms of meaning, back then.) They went to Lake Tomahawk, in Wisconsin, which Bev said, "... was no fun and left a lot to be desired."
On alternate vacation trips, Bev and Sharon would be allowed to take turns bringing a friend. Whenever Bev had a friend for the trip, they would pick on Sharon, until she moaned and complained to the point that she would have to be moved to the front seat, between her parents. Then, all was good in the back seat.
Bev spent one week in Minocqua, Wisconsin, with her friend, Myra Darrow and Myra's dad. On this trip, according to her diary, Bev appointed herself "Chief of Research Department of `Dreamboats' (exceptionally good looking boys)." She also made some trips to Williams Bay and Crystal Lake with her friend, Janet Heitzler and Janet's father.
All in all, Beverly and her family did have a lot of fun vacations. On one occasion, while Bev, Sharon and Janet were swimming in the lake, they decided to skinny dip. They removed and tied their bathing suits to the swimming dock, and when it was time to get out of the water, Sharon's suit was missing. (It seems that it had mysteriously floated away!) Sharon wouldn't come out of the water until dark. This incident did not amuse their mother — and having to buy another swimming suit — didn't either. The three-year age difference made Sharon, most often, the brunt of the pranks (which is understandable during their early years). This changed in their later years, however, and their relationship became very close.
The family's means of transportation in the early years, was an old 1937 Pontiac (which finally...
