[R K T]

I literally grew up at Lions Drag Strip, due in part to my Dad being the President of the LA Harbor Lions Club that sponsored Lions D.S. I had my own permanent pass and could go anywhere at the strip.
In the early to mid 60s, Ed would come out to Lions on the weekends in his truck and set up a little stand and sell his shirts. He had all the silk-screened shirts, but his really cool stuff was his custom airbrushed shirts. Just tell him what you wanted, what colors you wanted....and your name. He would turn a plain white T into a work of art in about 5 minutes. I think he charged something like $4.50 for a custom!
I was in my early teens and was absolutely spellbound watching him do the shirts. I would stand for hours watching him. When the headliners started running the 1/4 most people would go into the stands to watch. I stayed and hung out with Ed. He was really a great guy and we would talk about all kinds of things, when we could hear each other over the cars racing. Didn't really realize at the time how much he impacted and influenced my life. So much that I became a graphic artist, and to this day some of my work has a little "Big Daddy" in it. He was much more than the crazy guy he portrayed.