An Interview Richard Truesdell

  Richard Truesdell was kind enough to take a few moments during his very busy schedule at the WCES to share some of his feelings, thoughts, and ideas which were the beginnings of this interview. The full interview is seen below. Enjoy!

Steven Rochlin: How did you begin in the industry?

Richard Truesdell: Like a lot of us who are now in our forties, I got my start in the industry installing a stereo in my first car which was a 1965 Rambler American two-door hardtop. I installed a Sony/Superscope portable cassette deck and using an inverter, hooked it up a home Sherwood solid-state amplifier. There was a local store that sold raw speaker drivers and I put in Peerless separates speakers, 5.25" woofers and their dome tweeter, if I remember correctly, into each door. I remember installing the board for the passive crossover behind each kick panel. It was pretty radical for 1973. Later, I had the same tweeters in a pair of Infinity Monitor Junior home speakers since I liked the way it sounded in my Rambler. In high school and my years in college, while most everyone else had 8-tracks I had car cassette systems that was pretty cool. I sold hi-fi equipment in collage which paid for a good portion of my tuition. Got out of school in 1976 and taught high school social studies while installing car audio in my parents driveway evenings and on weekends.

SR: How did that work out?

RT: Worked out really good! I was actually making more money installing radios in my parent's driveway then teaching during the week. It was not uncommon to have three or four people dropping off their cars Saturday morning to have installs done. There were times that so many cars were parked in front of the house that our neighbors complained. So this lasted until 1980.

SR: So what happened after that?

RT: By 1980 I opened up own store called Kartunes in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Like so many other retailers from that era, I started out small, a 10' x 25' showroom with two tiny, cramped installation bays. In the beginning it was really a lot of fun with long hours just to make ends meet. I can say that I had a great eleven year run. Two of the highlights were that the business became successful enough that I could own a Ferrari 308GTSi and the other highlight was in June of 1990. An installation I worked on with my senior installer at the time, Gary Garritino, was featured on the cover of Car Stereo Review (CSR)!

SR: How did that make you feel?

RT: Top of the world! It was also in recognition that some of the concepts that we promoted in the store, keeping the systems simple yet optimizing sound reproduction without gimmicks, was seen by not only the customer but also the editors as being the right way to go. While at Kartunes I started my "journalism" career, contributing mostly for PR purposes for the store, to a trade magazine called Autosound and Communications. My job with them was as installation editor. I worked with Joe Palenchar who is now with Twice Magazine and CSR. Throughout my writing career, Joe has been my mentor, responsible for telling other editors that I could contribute to their magazines. That led to being asked by CSR's founding editor, Bill Wolfe, to do the column Truckin' in CSR its first two years. When Car and Driver (CSR's sister publication) needed someone to do a car stereo supplement, Car and Driver asked me to provide it. It was a huge thrill to have sixteen pages of my work published in the most widely read automotive magazine in the world! This went on for two years until they decided to no longer do outside supplements in 1991.

SR: So then what was next?

RT: In 1993 I was on-board (again at Joe's suggestion) when Petersen Publishing launched Autotronics magazine in Los Angeles. After two years, Autotronics was folded into Motor Trend magazine. From early 1996 through the end of 1997, I wrote and edited the Autotronics department in Motor Trend. Because of the fact that there was a heavy emphasis on OEM, I got to drive a lot of pre-production cars like the Plymouth Prowler. I believe that I was probably the first person, since I drove the Prowler so early, to have driven it, the SLK and the Z3. While all this was happening, after Car Audio & Electronics (CE&E) was sold to McMullen Agrus, I was approached to become an executive editor at CA&E. It is important to say that I turned down that opportunity three times before I agreed to take the position. I waited until after Doug Newcomb said that he was leaving before saying yes to McMullen Argus. I was very happy with all the contributing work that I was doing working from home that I was unwilling to give it up unless I could join CA&E as Editor.

SR: And were you happy about this and/or scared at the huge responsibilities involved?

RT: Both. Um, since I never edited anything more then four pages a month in Motor Trend the thought of the 120+ pages in CA&E certainly was a scary prospect. Especially given the fact that there was virtually no holdover staff members from the prior editorial team. Bill Burton quit in March, just before the June issue needed to be finalized. Bill was great to stay on as long as he did and together with John Jeffries, the newly appointed managing editor who would later become Editor, together we got the June issue out, just barely. It was made more difficult by the fact that I was commuting back and forth to California every week from my home in Albuquerque and everyone else was based in Woodland Hills and Placentia, California as the editorial offices were moved at the same time. At the same time, MES was held in Atlanta so it was a difficult time for me. Really, it was a miracle that it all fell into place. It was on-the-job training, doing it all on the fly.

SR: And how much of a triumph was that for you?

RT: Well, I remember that I was on the road in mid-May doing the Corvette Route 66 trip which would appear in the August issue. I saw my first copy of the June issue in a stereo store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As pumped as I was in driving the Corvette from Chicago to Los Angeles, seeing that first issue with me as editor was one of the biggest thrills of my life!

During the ensuing months I felt the magazine made great strides editorially. For instance, the August issue was composed of material written entirely by the new editorial team I had assembled. This included Rob Hephner, Derek Lee, Steve Bentivegna, and Chris Tobin. With the exception of Chris, none of them had ever written for a magazine before. It should be noted that that issue went to printer less than 75 days after I had arrived as Editor on March 4. I didn't have the chance even to move to Southern California until May 1.

SR: So great strides were made in relatively short time?

RT: Right.

SR: So then things evolved even further.

RT: I thought the security cover for the September cover was our best cover which was exquisitely photographed by John Skalicky. Some of the readers referred to it as the S&M cover.

(Laughs)

RT: Most people, at first glance thought that it was a PhotoShop composite. Actually it was a 1/18th scale Burago Dodge Viper wrapped in a chain and gold padlock. Ann Marie Whaley and Verna Loughran-Baz did a great job with the concept, design and execution of that particular cover. By that issue I got the feeling the worst was over and that the magazine had a fresher identity. Probably after the cover (September), I am proudest of the fact that the staff I had assembled had the ability to deliver news and event coverage faster than ever before. The best example was the IASCA Finals coverage that appeared first in the January 1998 issue, certainly before any competing magazine. This may have been a contributing factor to me ultimately being asked to leave CA&E.

SR: Why would this be problematic?

RT: Because it put the staff under a lot of strain as the events happened almost simultaneously with the previously established deadlines. This was complicated by the fact that IASCA was eight days late with the final results which came in two days after the deadline for the January issue. We had to delay the final sign-off on the January issue and barely made the press on time.

SR: So just being a few days late to offer the most up to date information on one of the biggest events of the year got you fired?

RT: The pressure that it placed on the staff was cited by a senior McMullen manager as a reason for terminating my employment. This manager also listed three other reasons in our short December 4 meeting. I believe that there's more to it, and in the 60 days since, I've learned a bit more, some political issues that unfortunately I can't really comment on at this time. Obviously I was disappointed as I felt the magazine was heading in the right direction. I know how hard that I was working and how hard everyone had as well. This was confirmed by my daily phone conversations with the readership and with principals at many of the manufacturers. It's safe to say that there's a lot more to this story that I know. It didn't take long, thanks to a couple of strategic postings on the Internet in rec.audio.car, for many people to know what happened. The bulk of the readership will find out when the March issue comes out in mid-February. I'll be curious too to see how the abrupt transition is explained to the readers by the new editorial leadership. I never believed, and I said it in one of my Driver's Seat editorial, that who was editor made much difference, but that whoever is the editor needs to listen to and communicate with the readers. I think that I did that as well as could be expected. The interplay with the readers was absolutely the best part of being Editor of CA&E. Certainly it recharged my batteries and raised my enthusiasm level two or three notches.

SR: What happened next?

RT: In less then two weeks after I was pushed out at CA&E, Mike Mettler asked me to re-join CSR. I'd felt I had come full circle since CSR was the first consumer magazine I'd written for. Like Mike, I was one of the original members of Bill Wolfe's team. In addition to CSR, I'm contributing to Mobile Electronics Retailer, Audio Video International, InCar Entertainment (Australia), and will also be contribution to a new Peterson magazine called Truck Trend. I'll be writing about new mobile electronics products and doing something I really love.

SR: And that is?

RT: That is taking new vehicles on extensive ride and drive evaluations, like I did with the Corvette for CA&E. That was an editorial experiment, and I'll admit, an editorial indulgence. It was part of my effort to expand CA&E's appeal beyond the die-hard car audio enthusiast. It was my hope that a typical car buff, someone not a traditional CA&E reader, could pick up that issue, thumb through it and say, "This is really cool." And then they would see all the great products the mobile electronics aftermarket has to offer. Unfortunately some short-sighted people in the industry didn't quite see it the same way. They seemed to think that I was selling out to the OEM interests that I had made friends with while at Motor Trend. Nothing could be further from the truth. Look back to my earliest days in the industry, I'm as aftermarket as anyone, I believe in the continued viability of the aftermarket. But I also feel that for the aftermarket to again grow, it has to appeal to a much broader audience and customer base.

SR: You really seem to have an enthusiasm for car audio.

RT: And I'm really excited at all the opportunities that have been presented to me. I feel I have the best of all worlds as I now get to pick my projects, yet for the most part work out of my home in a more relaxed environment. I find that the quality of my life in the last sixty days has improved dramatically. I love to write and am working hard to improve in many different areas. In addition to all the on-going magazine work, I have two book projects in development, one is a history of American Motors Corporation, the other is a general book covering car audio. In addition I'm finally finishing a novel that I've been working on for almost ten years and have started to convert it into a screenplay so I can be like everyone else in Southern California and can boast of having written a screenplay. I can tell you that I do miss the daily phone calls from the readers who share many of the same passions that I have for mobile electronics and great cars. Any of my Internet friends should feel free to contact me via e-mail anytime. I was really flattered by all the support in rec.audio.car I received when I was pushed out at CA&E. I have a feeling that when the March issue comes out, some of it will start up again. As down as I was in those first two weeks in December, I never got depressed, mostly due in part to everyone who wrote or called me.

SR: Any plans on competing again?

RT: Last year I really got the bug to build a car and compete in sound-offs, something I've not done since 1987. Times have changed, as have the rules, and I would like to prove that it is possible to build a great sounding car with off the shelf components and not have to take out a home equity loan to finance this undertaking. Maybe I'll be successful, maybe not, but I intend to have fun. Fun is what its all about. If I compete, it will probably be in some sort of AMC vehicle. Ramblers, not Ferraris, are my passion now.

SR: What did you see at winter CES that you are really excited about?

RT: Convergence. Cars, audio entertainment, navigation, and computers. Clarion's alliance with Microsoft on the integrated AutoPC concept is great. And it looks like Intel is working on a similar architecture that may be a bit more skewed towards the computer side of the equation. Both are exciting developments that merit our attention. I think that convergence will redefine and revitalize our industry. I think the shift will be similar to the shift from cassette to CDs in the mid-eighties.

SR: Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview. You are truly a very busy dude with much knowledge to share.

RT: Thanks Steven, it was a genuine pleasure to talk with you and I wish you much success on all of your endeavors.

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