Formula One Champs Are Forever
As little as Phil Hill needs defending, I feel the need to mention that he was and still is the 1961 Formula One World Driving Champion.
In your entertaining and informative piece on Carroll Shelby (“A Donor With a Heart,” Jan. 28), you call Hill former world driving champion, which makes it appear that his title was taken away from him or that he lost it to someone else, like a boxing crown.
One is always, for example, a Legion of Honor or Victoria Cross winner, and men like Rick Mears and Johnny Rutherford have it good since no one will refer to them as “former Indy winners.”
In your own game it’s Pulitzer Prize winner, not “former” winner, regardless of when and how long ago the prestigious award was bestowed.
DOUG STOKES
Duarte
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