Viva DUCATI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

enthusiast, car and motorcycle collector, and a most eclectic

connoisseur of all things rare and interesting.

Special thanks to contributor Pierre Bourassa, founder of Motorsports Marketing Resources.com for spearheading the Memorial Service and Sheldon Steel, Education Director at the Larz Anderson Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts.

It seems fitting that in the height of summer and the peak of New England’s motoring season that this regular feature article be dedicated to John Sweeney.

John was most recently known through his affiliation with the Larz Anderson Auto Museum where he served as an active member of the Board and then as Director. The Brookline, Massachusetts Museum's rich historical past, its appreciation of a by-gone era and related social norms, its building of grandeur, beautiful grounds, and its dedication to memorializing and maintaining rare artifacts embodied the all of the things that John loved and treasured.

His interests were wide-ranging, whether it was roughing it with fellow Yankee Beemers on BMW weekend camping trips in the Berkshires, riding one of the original Buell, full-bodied RR1000’s or his Taglioni designed bevel-head 750 DUCATI, John was a discerning motoring enthusiast and a fine gentleman through and through.

Along the bottom of his black Vanson Leather jacket the custom red embroidery stated simply ‘Dangerous Toys’ and for John this was true of his 2-wheel and 4-wheeled collection that also included a fully-open green C-Type Jaguar, where he was protected from the elements by fleece-lined bomber jacket, leather helmet, and split-lens goggles authentic to the era.

He was captivated by the essence and style of bygone eras. An inveterate pack rat, he surrounded himself with books and arcane artifacts that friends among his select circles could only begin to fully appreciate or understand the interconnectedness of these rarities that John was an expert on and moved among the topics of these very specialized areas of interest with a seamless elegance and encyclopedic knowledge.

John was the master of standing out quietly. He appeared to be frozen in time and more the man in a full length beaver coat from the historic Harvard stadium where he was a graduate of. He exuded an air of confidence with a soft-spoken voice and winning smile. He reveled in being subtle and to some, oddly different from the tips of his dress slippers to the stem-wound watches he wore every day. John Sweeney was quietly being himself at all times, of service and friendship to so many, yet answered to no one.

At John’s memorial service held at the Larz Anderson Museum this past father’s day, and appropriately the first day of summer, I was moved by the range of people who knew and cared deeply for him.

Many friends and acquaintances stepped forward to the podium where Pierre Bourassa convened the gathering and guests offered thoughtful and heartfelt remembrances of John. Many saw him as the quintessential eclectic whose phone book listing was as ‘Lamont Cranston.’ Others thought him to be simply a little wacky. A sort of defunct James Bond and he knew it and played the role perfectly.

I always saw John to be sort of the Wizard of OZ and a man of Mystery. Yet his caring and outreach through his recent position as Executive Director at the Larz Anderson Museum touched so many communities and motoring enthusiasts.

Our stars aligned around a shared passion for a particular Italian marque of motorcycle – DUCATI and John’s willingness to host my U.S. guest, Pierre Terblanche, Director of Design of DUCATI, Bologna Italy. John and I quickly learned, after a leisurely 3-hour lunch, that our favorite word was ‘yes’ and to that end I will be forever grateful for his interest and embrace of an education program and lecture by one of the world’s most renowned motorcycle designers in November 2004.

John Sweeney will be missed deeply by the many who know him personally. However, the greater loss will be among the those who never knew John or how far his reach stretched to bring together the concentric circles of motor sport enthusiasts whether it was over lunch, a dinner, or a gathering of thousands around a concourse lawn event.

John was born May 18, 1944 in Seattle, Washington, and died February 19, 2009 in Franklin, Massachusetts where he was a long-time resident. He was the son of Hubert L. Sweeney and Ann H. Sweeney, both deceased and he grew up in the Blue Ridge area in Seattle. John was an Eagle Scout, Student Body President at Ballard High School, and graduated from Harvard University. He died unexpectedly, at his home of cardiac arrest on February 19, 2009. He is survived by his brother, David B. Sweeney, of Bellevue Washington, whose wife is Janice Sweeney, and by nephew Stuart Wilson and nieces Jennifer Gregory, Ann Eby and Katharine Sweeney.

To quote singer, songwriter Richard Thompson’s lyrics, “I see angles on Ariel’s in leather and chrome riding down from the heavens to carry me home” . . . It is a fitting departing lyric and image of John riding off in style onto the next plane.

To the spirit of John Sweeney I say that on the twists and turns we will share with you along the roads and race tracks of this world, always know that your boundless knowledge and noticeable absence of style and grace will be greatly missed by many.