Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 16:09:47 -0500 From: "Mark Larson" Subject: [R] Carl Merrill I've been holding off until the more sentimental stories were told, but I've got an amusing Carl Merrill story, at least. Last year at Ojibwe I was assigned to do a final precheck Friday morning of Friday night's stages (there was a storm the night before). I scoured the parking lot for a co-driver for the day, and when I got to Carl's van he offered to send his co-driver, Lance Smith. We had a laugh and all of a sudden Carl said "Wait, I know who will go." He hopped in his rental car and took off for the airport. He came back a few minutes and said his pilot would go, but Carl couldn't find him. About that time, his cell phone rang and Carl told the pilot "Get over to the van. You're going for a ride." The pilot (sorry, I forgot your name) showed up and had a brief conversation with Carl. He didn't mind, but I don't think Carl was really giving him an option. He climbed in the car and Lance joked about showing him how to make pace notes. He was a very nice man and we had a good time running the course, even though he had been drafted by his boss. When we returned, Carl and Lance started pumping him for information. The pilot told them that I said he could tell them, but then he'd have to kill them. They thought that was funny, but I suspect they still tried to learn something from him after I left. We've been hearing that Carl was also very generous. The Ojibwe committee thinks that he always entered late just so he'd have to pay the higher entry fee to support the event. I understand that this year he also made a donation to the charity rallycross even though he did not compete. I think we've lost a pretty special man. Mark Larson Multi-Ad Services, Inc.