Howard Moon, R.I.P.

Last week some sad news came in about the passing of Howard Moon, eminence grise of the American Lancia world. Howard was a champion of the Aurelia back in the 1970s, and he captured the spirit of both the American Lancista (a rare bird) and the Aurelia in America... no small feat. He was a very savvy man, had a long career in the CIA, and was quite a private individual. If you had been around Lancias for a long time, you would know Howard. I am only sorry to have known him casually, and not better.  

A Lanciana cover and illustration done by Howard of himself in a beloved Aurelia, from 1977.

And from Pete Vack, of VeloceToday, a couple of quotes from his article "Lanciana and Friends" from 2014. The article can be found here: velocetoday.com/lanciana-and-friends/

"And of course the indomitable Howard Moon, who was editor of Lanciana from 1968 to 1975 and contributed 1977 edition was printed in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Aurelia. His article “The Aurelia Mystique” kicks off the Snyder reprint and remains as good an explanation of the Aurelia as any. This is followed by another classic commentary of his trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, D.C. with a low mileage Aurelia Convertible in 1977, a voyage which had all the elements of an Italian opera. He decided to do the drive with the top down as, “…having been last erect in 1972 and six hours of persuasion with crowbars and hydraulic jacks on its badly bent frame confirmed it had shrunk far away from the windshield anchors. Collectors, I suspect, pay more for open cars because they are no compelled to drive them. Experience indicated that up to about 45 mph, a light shower would become an exquisite and maddening variation of the Chinese water torture, the raindrops drilling with exaggerated momentum into the forehead, then draining into the eye sockets, pausing thoughtfully to fog up eyeglass lenses on the way..” It was too bad Road & Track already had Henry Manney III for Moon would have been a delightful substitute.

and yet there was more from his friend Pete: 
"....Forever ensconced in the Lanciana files and written for the 20th Anniversary of the Aurelia in 1971, was a Moon piece entitled “Dementia Aureliana”, a humorous and all-too-true psychological look at the foibles of those addicted to Aurelias. He writes, somewhat autobiographically, “The Aurelian desires the company of his own kind, because his fellow sufferers are the only human beings with whom he has now anything in common….he cannot trust them and is openly fearful that they will make off with his tools, photographs, brochures, or headlight rims.” 

Howard was a special person, to be missed. His son, David Aruda, is working with Howard's church for a memorial. Will post any info when available.