Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
Message
Author
User avatar
Curt Dansby
356 Fan
Posts: 462
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:50 am
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#16 Post by Curt Dansby »

Adam Wright wrote:There was talk a few years ago about the Registry buying the rights to the Pellow Publishing. I asked the Trustee's about it at the open meeting at the Holiday, they seemed un-aware of a pending deal, but promised to check into it and report back.
I did communicate with Gordon after he got back from Europe and he said there appeared to be a bit of a mis-cue on attempts at gaining rights- see below

I spoke with Mary Pellow years ago, after Harry died. Chris Markham (do you know him?) in CA had essentially re-created ABC’s in digital form and presented it to Mary as a way to go forward rather than the bulky, crappy books he had originally printed. Chris wasn’t even looking for compensation for his time, but she wasn’t interested. I think she was torn between putting the huge effort in to keep his books and legacy alive and just letting it go. I had not contacted her again until a few months ago, when I wrote to say I was going to sell a pirate copy I had and wanted to send her the proceeds. She told me to just keep the money, but thanks for asking. As it turned out, nobody wanted it (or the other originals I had),.....

I myself have almost all his books (I understand there is one that had a much smaller run that was on politics rather than Porsche's- I found Harry's sense of humor captivating and I would purchase this one as well but I have never seen it) and I find them excellent reference manuals and entertaining. But I think the back and forth on this thread shows a mixed bag on interest of re-printing and Gordon's note on her seeming lack of interest, as well as extra copies I have too listed that did not sell suggest that this would not be a fruitful effort at this time.

Curt

User avatar
Gordon Maltby
Registry Hall of Fame
Posts: 377
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:45 am
Location: Twin cities
Contact:

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#17 Post by Gordon Maltby »

Juha,

As a book publisher and seller, I have a finger (lightly) on the pulse of the market. Regarding demand for Harry's books, I would ask anyone, where were you when I offered a package deal on several of his titles last month in the classifieds? I ended up more or less donating them to a good cause. The demand is not zero but it's not far off that. I have found over the years a few truisms about books (and retail in general): desperate desire from one or a few people does not create a market. I have reprinted old titles because of perceived demand only to end up sitting on stock for years.

Much of the reason for out-of-print books staying out-of-print is the internet, where you can get lots of solid (and some not-so-solid) info about anything. A specific reason why Harry's books have not been reprinted is that they were physically cumbersome, and gleaning the technical material generally meant wading through page after page of unrelated blow-by. Harry had created a persona that rang through his writing, but today, a newcomer to the Maestro might say, "WTH?" The production values of his books and videos were marginal even in the day. Soft paper that cannot reproduce detailed images was used, and the images themselves were awful to begin with. His typewriter type face is one of the least efficient uses of space for the printed page. The binding of his big books are falling apart by now. Other than that, no problem.

Of course, his material could be edited (I happen to know a little about this as his editor for over a decade in "The Maestro" column) and the physical attributes of his books could be streamlined and upgraded. The material could even be digitized to an e-book or pdfs. In fact, just after Harry's death one of our members went to a lot of trouble to do just that with The ABC's. The project was more or less complete but Mary Pellow was not really interested in following up. And that's where it has all remained in the years since. I have corresponded with Mary a few times, most recently a few months ago. I get the distinct impression Harry's books and videos are not at the top of her priority list and I don't blame her.

Bottom line for me: There's no good reason to bring any of his books back to the market. If the trustees of this club are approached to consider doing so I would strongly advise them to not get involved. Harry was a character and I always enjoyed getting together with him. I appreciate as much as anyone how much he did to further the knowledge base for 356 enthusiasts. I miss him. But there are enough of his books to go around already.
 

User avatar
Bob Forman
356 Fan
Posts: 1459
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 1:26 pm
Location: Anacortes, WA

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#18 Post by Bob Forman »

All of Harry's publications are available in digital format. The "ABC's" is of excellent quality while "Secrets" is a PDF reproduction of his type-written pages. Both of these books were at my local library (Bellevue, WA) and probably at many others across the US of A. Access to the material isn't difficult and DVD's of his videos are readily available on-line (or, at least, used to be). Except for nostalgic purposes I wonder why the books are retaining value. Years ago I took my original copy of "Secrets" to a local printer and had him cut the spine off and drill it for a three ring binder. This made for much easier study of Harry's instructions as the pages remained flat.
Bob Forman

User avatar
Wes Bender
356 Fan
Posts: 4861
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:54 am
Location: Somewhere in the Gadsden Purchase, USA

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#19 Post by Wes Bender »

Gordon's comments are well taken. If anybody knows the ins and outs of the publishing business, he does. I wonder if publishing Harry's better books (Secrets and The, A,B,Cs for example) might be accomplished in the same manner as Craig Richter's book, How to Make an Old Porsche Fly, in PDF format.

I bought it and was quite happy that it was made available again. If I remember correctly (and sometimes I don't) Craig felt that trying to reprint hard copies wasn't a practical thing to do, given the limited market. How did that all work out, Craig?
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.....

User avatar
Dave Wildrick
356 Fan
Posts: 1953
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:10 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#20 Post by Dave Wildrick »

Bob Forman wrote:All of Harry's publications are available in digital format. Access to the material isn't difficult and DVD's of his videos are readily available on-line (or, at least, used to be).
Not legal, according to copyright law, and no permissions were obtained from Harry's heirs by whoever is selling them to libraries and others.

"Except for nostalgic purposes I wonder why the books are retaining value."

I suspect this is for the same reason that some folks are allergic to reproductions of "anything 356," although I'm not one of them.

I bought ABCs and Secrets from Harry years ago, and I also made my own DVD copy of his videotape set, which makes it easier to use them on a laptop in the garage while you're working on a motor. But I never considered selling them.
Dave Wildrick
Houston, TX
#10230
64C coupe
65C coupe

User avatar
Craig Richter
356 Fan
Posts: 1305
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:01 pm
Location: San Miguel de Allende/Traunkirchen

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#21 Post by Craig Richter »

Hi Wes,
I couldn't be happier with what my friend Peter Kroezen from the Nederlands has accomplished with his vintagetechinfo.com. Check out https://youtu.be/zyaWdVIJLzM. Absolutely amazing what can be done today so quickly and inexpensively. Nothing like the original creation.
He and his wife Susan are such delightful people, Mandy and I truly enjoy meeting with them for lunch whenever we can. I hope people appreciate what a labor of love it is to keep all this old technical stuff alive. It certainly has nothing to do with $!
I love old Porsches, and all the loco old people who love 'em too.
Craig
 

User avatar
Adam Wright
Classifieds Monitor
Posts: 10305
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:00 am
Tag: KTF

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#22 Post by Adam Wright »

My thoughts on the Registry acquiring the rights to the Pellow works were not as a commercial venture, nor to re-publish the hard books, but to digitize the books so Registry members could have access to them quickly and easily, and so the works would stay alive indefinitely, since the 356 Registry, like our cars, will probably out live us all.
From what I gather Harry was a big proponent of the club, I know he wore a Registry shirt in some of his videos, so since he was such a big part of the club it would be a shame to have his work fade into obscurity because his family has lost interest. Not to mention his books work very well for the novice, which is the new members we are so desperately seeking.
I hope everyone who reads this knows I'm not trying to start controversy, or butt heads with the Trustees, just trying to see about the viability of folding the Pellow works into the Registry.
www.unobtanium-inc.com
Check out my Barn Find column in the Registry magazine, always looking for good stories.

User avatar
Bob Forman
356 Fan
Posts: 1459
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 1:26 pm
Location: Anacortes, WA

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#23 Post by Bob Forman »

The books were in my library (at least) prior to Harry's demise. Hard cover and well copyrighted. I doubt King County Library system would offer up outlaw volumes.
Bob Forman

User avatar
Vic Skirmants
Registry Hall of Fame
Posts: 9282
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:02 pm
Location: SE Michigan
Contact:

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#24 Post by Vic Skirmants »

Adam Wright wrote:My thoughts on the Registry acquiring the rights to the Pellow works were not as a commercial venture, nor to re-publish the hard books, but to digitize the books so Registry members could have access to them quickly and easily, and so the works would stay alive indefinitely, since the 356 Registry, like our cars, will probably out live us all.
From what I gather Harry was a big proponent of the club, I know he wore a Registry shirt in some of his videos, so since he was such a big part of the club it would be a shame to have his work fade into obscurity because his family has lost interest. Not to mention his books work very well for the novice, which is the new members we are so desperately seeking.
I hope everyone who reads this knows I'm not trying to start controversy, or butt heads with the Trustees, just trying to see about the viability of folding the Pellow works into the Registry.
Excellent post, Adam. Did you just call the trustees "buttheads"? :)

User avatar
Dave Wildrick
356 Fan
Posts: 1953
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:10 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#25 Post by Dave Wildrick »

Bob Forman wrote:The books were in my library (at least) prior to Harry's demise. Hard cover and well copyrighted. I doubt King County Library system would offer up outlaw volumes.
Sorry Bob, my bad.
The juxtaposition of your sentences misled me to think that the libraries had the digital copies (as opposed to the actual books):
[All of Harry's publications are available in digital format. The "ABC's" is of excellent quality while "Secrets" is a PDF reproduction of his type-written pages. Both of these books were at my local library (Bellevue, WA) and probably at many others across the US of A.]
Dave Wildrick
Houston, TX
#10230
64C coupe
65C coupe

Peter Smit
356 Fan
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:23 am

Re: Harry "Maestro" Pellow's books & videos

#26 Post by Peter Smit »

Craig Richter wrote:Hi Wes,
Check out https://youtu.be/zyaWdVIJLzM. Absolutely amazing what can be done today so quickly and inexpensively.
Craig
Actually the link to the video has changed to this page because the video is hosted on Amazon instead of YouTube now.
Were are you engine #700267 ?

Post Reply