SAHJ #314 published a review of Hello, I’m Paul Page; “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis.” Then the unusual and unexpected happened. The book was pulled from the marketplace by the publisher. A few months later it reappeared but now from a different publisher and softbound where the first had been hardcover.
Your correspondent, who had also been that reviewer, inquired of Octane’s founder/owner. He responded that Paul Page and his co-author had brought them the project inasmuch as they, Page and Elrod, owned the copyright. He mentioned that Octane did do some re-editing which left me curious so I did a page-by-page comparison.
You can compare the statistics describing each:
RESOURCE (for the hardcover book)
Title: Hello, I’m Paul Page
Subtitle: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”
Author: Paul Page & J. R. Elrod
Description: 201 pages, 6.24” x 9.25” hardbound, 5 b/w & 24 color images, bibliography and appendix but no index
ISBN: 978 1 68157 215 4
Publisher: Blue River Press 2021 www.BRPress.com
List Price: $26.99
RESOURCE (for book in softcover)
Title: Hello, I’m Paul Page
Subtitle: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”
Author: Paul Page & J.R. Elrod
Description: 318 pages, 6” x 9”, softcover, 29 b/w images, bibliography, appendix, no index
ISBN: 978 1 64234 164 5
Publisher: Octane Press, Edition 1.0, December 2022 OctanePress.com
List Price: $22.95
The only factual change discerned was in the third chapter where a woman’s given name had been Paula in the hardcover. The soft cover apparently correcting it to Gertrude. Both hardbound and softcover books manage to misspell Rodger Ward’s given name. The pages with the greatest number and most substantive changes are the end-of-the-book Acknowledgments.
So, while it’s still unclear why the 2021-published hardbound was pulled from the market, with this new Octane Press-published edition Paul Page’s well-told story is now truly available. The opportunity to compare the two versions, essentially rereading the entire book, reminded me of just how open and revealingly Page is sharing his story. He tells the good, the less good, and even relates some of the downright embarrassing moments he’s experienced as he tells of his life, family, and racing experiences and memories. (HVH)