As a long-time admirer of Tony Maggs, South Africa's first works F1 driver, I am extremely pleased Greg Mills - that tireless chronicler of motorsport heroes from these parts - has seen fit to feature the Maggs life story in his latest work.
' Tony Maggs - South Africa's Forgotten Grand Prix Ace' also happens to be his best publication yet.
OK, so there is an exception, because not every one of the Mills subjects is locally born and bred. The exception is the David Piper story, an earlier offering from the Mills pen.
But while Piper is as British as the Union Jack the "Pipes" tome was justified by that man's dominance of early long-distance endurance racing and his many memorable victories in southern Africa.
On that subject, it is interesting to note that Piper chose Maggs to co-drive his Ferrari when they won the Rand Daily Mail Nine-Hour Endurance race in 1963.
Make no mistake, Tony should never be compared with South African Formula 1 champion Jody Scheckter. That great factory in the sky responsible for the creation of great racing drivers cast Maggs and Scheckter on different assembly lines.
According to Dan Gurney, in the book's foreword, Maggs was regarded as a smooth driver, very good on long circuits such as Reims and Rouen, where he finished second to Gurney in the 1962 French GP. His sympathetic style of driving also led him to excel in sports-car events from Le Mans to the Nurburgring (and Kyalami, of course).
Reserved and almost shy, Maggs was a true gentleman, with none of Scheckter's naked aggression on the track.
My treasured memory of him was created during his early F1 years with the Cooper team when I heard he was in the Cape on holiday.
We had a race meeting coming up at Killarney at the time so I called and offered him a guest drive. It was a long shot and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had hung up on me. Instead, in a gesture typical of the man, he readily agreed and a near-record crowd - for a Regional meeting - turned up to see him in action.
Another plus feature of the book is Bill Jennings's excellent contribution. This triple South African single-seater champion (1954, 1955, 1957) has spent his life in the Cape and almost all his racing, in a series of cars he built himself, was here.
Tony eventually retired to the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley near Hermanus, where he died on June 2 last year, aged 72.
The book is available from the administrative office at Killarney. Call +27 (0)21 557-1639. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to a charity chosen by Tony's daughter, Sally.