The Man in the Lavender Suit

At the suggestion of another Fchat member I'm cross posting this thread in the F1 area. Please read the original post below but send whatever contributions you can make to this inquiry to the thread in the "Vintage" section at the following link:

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315209

Through my wife I have recently been introduced to Stacey Hopkins, daughter of the late Tex Hopkins. As many of you on this site will know, Tex Hopkins was for many years the official starter of the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, wearing his trademark lavender colored suit for the event. He was also one of the founding members of the famed "Lavender Hill Mob" that started the Marlboro Motor Raceway in Maryland. My wife and I recently attended a small get together at Stacey's apartment and I was stunned by the multitude of photographs on the walls showing moments from her father's historic career. Photos of Tex with Phil Hill, Mark Donahue, Roger Penske and Sir Jack Brabham! Images of Tex performing his famous leap-in-the-air flag starts at the Glen. Great stuff!! During the evening's conversation concerning her father's involvement in racing I was very surprised to learn that during his life Tex hardly ever spoke to Stacey about his experiences in the sport. Over the years what information and anecdotes about her father's days in racing she has been able to collect have come from the memories shared by other people, gathered mostly during her time as an SCCA corner worker and driver. And that brings me to the reason of my starting this thread. I told Stacey that Ferrarichat was the one place I could think of where there was a chance of gathering stories first hand from people who attended Watkins Glen in it's heyday (and other events) and could post their memories of her father. So, how about it fellow Fchaters? What stories can you tell Stacey about the legendary Tex Hopkins?

Gary