Dick Knudson, founder of the first MG club in the U.S., dies

Richard L. Knudson, June 4, 1930 ­— Sept. 1, 2017

Episcopal priest and former college professor Dick Knudson, a longtime MG enthusiast and author of 30 books, died Sept. 1 at age 87.

Knudson drove MGs and wrote about them back when they were just old cars. By the time car collecting had gained momentum in the mid-1960s, he had co-founded the first national MG club in the United States, the MG T Register.

Knudson had several careers in his lifetime, all of which allowed him to impact thousands of people. He began as an educator in his native Maine and moved to central New York to assume a post as English professor at SUNY (The State University of New York) Oneonta. Although Knudson retired from teaching in 1991, he continued his involvement with the MG community, education and writing. Of the 30 books he authored, more than 15 were automotive. His best known title, MG: The Sportscar America Loved First, was first published in 1975.

Knudson began a new phase of his life in 2004 at the age of 74, when he was ordained an Episcopal priest and installed as vicar at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Schenevus, N.Y., where he served until his death last week.