In addition to being the beloved drummer and primary lyricist of Rush, the late, great Neil Peart was also an author, publishing both fiction and non-fiction books throughout his career. His final one is set to be published posthumously later this year.
Documenting Peart's lifelong passion for vintage sports cars, Silver Surfers: Sports Cars of the Sixties is due to arrive in May via Insight Editions and is now available for pre-order.
The announcement came over the weekend in an Instagram post from the official Rush account, which wrote, “For Neil Peart, cars were a lifelong passion, and in his final literary creation, he writes about his beloved Silver Surfers collection; the joy of collecting these exquisite, rare, and important sports cars, and the myriad ways that they brought him great joy."
It also included the following quote from Peart:
The title Silver Surfers for my collection of cars occurred to me while driving my DB5 up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. Because it felt right to me, I guess — the idea that I was just one of the wave riders…
In search of natural peace, I often drove out that way and up in to the Santa Monica Mountains. Out past Malibu to Ventura County, I’d weave along barren ridges of rock and vegetation, the ocean always on one big side…
The waves were slow and gentle, or churned out a powerful, rolling rhythm…
A portion of sales from Silver Surfers will be donated to the Neil Peart Memorial at Lakeside Park, as well as the American Brain Tumor Association from the Estate of Neil Peart. The musician died at age 67 on January 7, 2020 — over three years after he was diagnosed with brain cancer.
Among Peart's previous publications are travel memoirs about his motorcycle and bicycle trips around the world. He also collaborated with American sci-fi writer Kevin J. Anderson on the Clockwork Angels series. The drummer's former bandmate Geddy Lee published his memoir, My Effin' Life, last year, and took the final date of his North American book tour behind it to reflect on the last time he saw Peart.