INTERVIEW
P150
DOUG HENRY
POCKETFUL OF
MIRACLES REVISITED
A conversation with
the always-inspirational
Doug Henry
BY ERIC JOHNSON
PHOTOGRAPH BY BROWNDOGWILSON
F
lash back 14 years. I found the January 6, 1999 annual Cycle News "Rider
of the Year" issue – also known in the
motorcycle racing industry as issue #50 – in
a cardboard box. And when I did the memories came rushing back. Gracing "America's
weekly motorcycle newspaper" cover were
Doug Henry and his revolutionary Yamaha
YZ400F. Flipping through its pages I came
across the cover feature I'd been asked to
write to commemorate the fact that Henry
had been chosen as the Cycle News Rider
of the Year. The title of the cover feature was
"Pocketful of Miracles," a title I had ingeniously "lifted" from the beloved Frank Capra
movie bearing the same name.
Henry and I had met up the evening before
the 1998 AMA Awards Banquet and just outside the marble greeting area of the Flamingo
Hilton Hotel. It was there that I recorded an
interview that became the foundation for the
Henry piece. Already a two-time AMA 125cc
National Champion, everything had come
right for Henry in 1998, the hard-working racer from New England not only able to make
Yamaha's then hope and glory YZM400F
Despite his
paralysis,
Doug Henry
still rips
it up on a
motocross
track.
