I am the second of three daughters of Gean Keen, owner/driver of KEEN MACHINE II.
I remember the first boat my father owned. It was a little cracker-box that he named "WEE WILLIE" after lis younger brother, my Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill found it while skin diving. It was badly burned and in need of much repair. My Dad owned his own business in Glendale, Ca., and after work he would come straight home and head for the garage to work on Wee Willie. I followed him each night and asked MANY MANY questions. I was also able to stick around the garage when "the guys" would talk, and believe me. I got an earful!! I was such a Tom Boy, but I knew when to be quiet and just LISTEN. Apparently the wives had been told that the two families were going to start water skiing. Well that came true enough, but the Real thoughts of my Dad and my Uncle ran towards RACING. The cracker-box was too small (and too slow)for pulling a grown man. We better get a boat that is a little faster. Then came SHABOOM. She was a Bristol and indeed she was a little faster and VERY ROUGH RIDING. Better get one just a little faster...
Next came SPOOKY. A Spico hull with a chevy engine and the first boat that Daddy actually entered in an official race. I believe it was the 50-55 mph class. Next came Rascal. A really beautiful flat bottom with an orange paint job and a wooden deck and a Chevy engine. If memory serves me well, this is the boat that Dad won his first trophy in. Many more trophies were to come. After Rascal came Keen Machine. I remember sitting at the dinner table (yep the family all ate dinner at the same time at the same table) and the discussion turned to how expensive Drag Boat Racing was becoming. I remember my Dad saying he had offers from promoters who wanted to sponsor him. He explained to us that if he had a sponsor, the sponsor would be able to tell him when and where to race and he didn't want anybody telling him how to spend his weekends. I could go on and on... Thanks sooo much for the tribute.
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