A Real Spark Plug
Newport's own Silver Spark Plug, Jim Winsor, has been missing from our pages due to illness.
You might have wondered why Executive Editor Jim Winsor's column – a popular staple in Heavy Duty Trucking every month for two dozen years – has been absent these past few issues.
"Winnie" (a nickname I gave him in 1985 when he joined the HDT staff) has been recovering from a rare disorder that he contracted in late July while on vacation with his wife Donna. They were on a cruise off the eastern seaboard.
The illness Winsor was stricken with is Guillain-Barré (ghee-yan bah-ray) syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. It usually appears after the victim suffers a viral infection. The first symptoms of this disorder include varying degrees of weakness. These symptoms can increase in intensity until certain muscles cannot be used at all and, when severe, the patient is almost totally paralyzed.
This was the case with Winnie. He lost the use of his arms and legs in the early stages of the illness. He is now on the mend in a physical rehabilitation center near his home town in Pennsylvania. While he has recovered strength in his arms, he is still unable to use his legs. He is undergoing physical therapy and waiting for the disorder to run its course. Doctors anticipate a full recovery, although it will take time.
No one yet knows why Guillain-Barré – which is not contagious – strikes some people and not others. Nor does anyone know exactly what sets the disease in motion.
What scientists do know is that the body's immune system begins to attack the body itself, causing what is known as an autoimmune disease. In Guillain-Barré syndrome, the immune system starts to destroy the myelin sheath that surrounds the axons (nerve fibers) of many peripheral nerves. When this occurs, the nerves cannot transmit signals efficiently. That is why the muscles begin to lose their ability to respond to the brain's commands.
Last month, The Technology and Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Associations held its fall meeting. It was one of the few Winnie has missed in 38 years. At that meeting, TMC named its Silver Spark Plug Award winners, the highest honor bestowed by the group on its members (To see this year's winners, go to www.truckinginfo.com and click on Industry Library icon. Type in "Silver Spark Plug" in truckinginfo.com search engine).
Winsor won the award in 1985 , the year he jointed HDT. He was already a name in truck journalism before he joined forces with us. He has been a truck journalist for 48 years, and before coming to HDT was chief editor of Commercial Car Journal (now named Commercial Carrier Journal).
At TMC's 50th anniversary meeting in Tampa earlier this year, Winsor was honored for his 38 years of service to the organization and especially for his contributions in building membership.
At an awards luncheon, Winsor was presented the Gerri Murphy Membership Award, a plaque and gold wrist watch in recognition of his efforts. Murphy was TMC's first staff membership director. Winsor is the third recipient of the award.
Winsor has been active in TMC leadership, having served six two-year terms on its board of directors and three terms as chairman of membership and publicity. He has also served on numerous task forces and organized and moderated many technical sessions.
In 2001 Winsor also received trade press publishing's top national honor, the American Business Media's Crain Award, acknowledging a distinguished career in journalism.
We're sure Winnie's readers miss him as much as we do. If you would like to send him get-well wishes, write Jim Winsor, P.O. Box 671, Ardmore, PA 19003.
I know he'll be happy to hear from you.
E-mail Deb Whistler at dwhistler@truckinginfo.com
