Expand<\/a><\/p>\nWhen the meeting ended, Michaelian patted me on the back and said he was looking forward to reading my next columns.<\/p>\n
It would be our last meeting. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the 51st iteration of the prestigious street race, will happen next month \u2014 but without its longtime leader at the helm.<\/p>\n
When word got out on Saturday, March 21, that Michaelian had died suddenly, I was stunned, as was the rest of the Long Beach community and the racing world. Accolades poured in from everywhere.<\/p>\n
Chris Pook, who created the Grand Prix in 1975 and hired Michaelian as his young financial officer, told me that the announcement of Michaelian\u2019s death was \u201clike getting hit by a 2\u00d74, totally unexpected..<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past 18 hours,\u201d Pook said on Sunday, \u201cI have been reflecting on just how lucky we were to have Jim show up for that Coastal Commission hearing in June of 1975!\u201d<\/p>\n
Pook described the different jobs Michaelian held as outstanding, until he took over as president and CEO when Pook left for a racing job in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n
\u201cJim will be sorely missed,\u201d Pook said, \u201cbut in true \u2018Jim-like\u2019 fashion, he has put together a stellar operating team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al Unser, Jr., a hall-of-fame race driver who won two Indianapolis 500 races and six Grand Prix of Long Beach races (the most in Long Beach history), said in a text: \u201cJim gave his heart to the race. No matter who owned the race, they chose Jim to run it. I will love him forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
I met Michaelian at my first Grand Prix race in 1979. From that moment onward, he was always accessible about the race and its development. And, despite the tremendous growth and popularity of the race, he always remained a most modest and humble man.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an example: Doug Krikorian, former sports columnist for the Press-Telegram and also a friend of Michaelian\u2019s, referred to the Grand Prix leader in a column in 2023 as the Cal Ripken of motorsports. Michaelian got upset at the comparison.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatta you talking about,\u201d Michaelian told Krikorian. \u201cThat streak of Ripken\u2019s went 17 years without his missing a game (2,632) for the Baltimore Orioles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Krikorian responded, \u201cbut you haven\u2019t missed a Grand Prix in 48 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michaelian scoffed, minimizing his amazing longevity with the Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Michaelian had long been known as a workaholic, to the point that Krikorian dubbed him the Energizer Bunny \u201cbecause of his inexhaustible spirit and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michaelian also had a wry sense of humor. When I wished him a happy birthday in 2020, for example, he emailed me this note: \u201cI just hope that you won\u2019t have to spend any time soon doing what you seem to being all too often \u2013 writing obituaries of people in town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another time he congratulated me when I received a distinguished journalist award.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike me,,\u201d he said, \u201cI know you do your job because you love it, but it is always good to have others extol your efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with your exalted recognition,\u201d Michaelian added, \u201cI assume that you will still be accessible for Grand Prix stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michaelian didn\u2019t always appreciate it when I would bring up his penchant for speeding on city streets, resulting in dozens of tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was all some time ago,\u201d he would say. \u201cI always had a passion for speed, even as a youngster. I got some hot rods and driving around Southern California. I got my fair share of tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michaelian also had a heart of gold.<\/p>\n
He worked with King Taco, which has donated 1,000 tickets so kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach could attend the race each Sunday for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, helping others like these kids,\u201d he told me. \u201cYou should be writing about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was right \u2014 and I did.<\/p>\n
Michaelian also showed his compassion to me when I was diagnosed with melanoma cancer on the side of my head.<\/p>\n
It was about the same time I received a Key to the City from then Mayor Robert Garcia, now a member of Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure where that key gets you, but you deserve it nevertheless,\u201d Michaelian wrote to me. \u201cI\u2019m also praying that you will emerge victorious in your battle with cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michaelian had his own battle with cancer more than 20 years ago \u2014 and lost his left eye to the disease. (The cause of his death has not been released and the Michaelian family has requested privacy.)<\/p>\n
Michaelian gave me the surprise of my life two years ago when it was time to pass out the Allen Wolfe Spirit Award to a person who has made a significant contribution to the\u00a0Grand Prix of Long Beach.<\/p>\n
Every year for the previous 24 years, I had passed out the award with Michaelian. The coveted award was named after Wolfe, the Press-Telegram\u2019s late, legendary auto racing writer, who Michaelian called \u201ca giant in the field of auto racing reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, one week before the 1999 race, Wolfe\u2019s heart gave out and he died at 51 years old.<\/p>\n
In Wolfe\u2019s honor, the Press-Telegram and Michaelian created the Allen Wolfe Spirit of the Grand Prix Award. Michaelian and his staff would select a recipient each year but would keep it a surprise until the award presentation. Michaelian would give me advance notice. But in 2024, there was something different. Michaelian always found excuses about why an award recipient had not been selected yet.<\/p>\n
At the press conference to announce the recipient, I patiently stood next to Michaelian, eagerly waiting to hear who that year\u2019s recipient was.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this year\u2019s recipient, whose ongoing efforts reflect Allen\u2019s enthusiasm and professionalism for the Grand Prix,\u201d Michaelian said, \u201cis the man standing next to me, Rich Archbold<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\nI threw up my arms in astonishment. Michaelian gave me a big hug with a wide smile on his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, you deserve it,\u201d he said. \u201cAllen would approve.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was Jim Michaelian. Always thinking of other people.<\/p>\n
Like so many other people, I will miss him \u2013 his smile, his humor, his modesty, his expertise and his compassion.<\/p>\n
Goodbye, Jim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was just 11 days ago when I sat in the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach office…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,131,28942,133,132,137,100,77],"class_list":["post-232553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-grand-prix","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0223-02-2.jpg\"\/)
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<\/p>\n![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-GPLB-ARCHBOLD-COL-0421-208A6417-1.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-GPLB-ARCHBOLD-COL-0421-208A6406-1.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Longtime](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0416-208A1348-1.jpeg?w=620\")
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