Mr. DiMatteo

["Eric Valley" <ericvalley@xxxxxxxxx>]

I sent Fred an e-mail off-digest right before he went into the hospital; 
I had "gathered" that he was very knowledgeable, so the message started 
"This may offend as coming from an idiot," and went on to list problems 
having to do with fuel cutoff solenoid, microswitch, fuel pressure 
sender and blown fuses on a SPICA car that Chevy friends of mine had 
butchered [mea culpa] (Obie also provided helpful suggestions).  Fred's 
response was remarkable and very kind (I must paraphrase, but very 
closely):  "I know EXACTLY what your "friends" did to your car.  I stay 
up late, so call me on a cordless phone from your garage as soon as your 
long distance rates go down and I will walk you through how to fix it." 
This from a man who didn't know me from Adam, and in response to a plea 
from a guy (me) who violated his code, that I only recently learned of, 
"If you don't know your way around an engine, you don't deserve an 
Alfa."  Requiescat in pace.  
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