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Arthur J. Kennedy
While many eight-year-olds spent time swinging on the playground, Butch Kennedy was flying down the Mississippi River at 35 miles per hour. He saved up $80 selling newspapers to buy his first boat, which he named “Judy Pie” for his girlfriend. By the time he graduated from Sumner High School, he had already been racing for a decade and owned a $1,300, 75-horsepower boat.
Butch Kennedy’s father, Arthur Kennedy Sr., was a professional racer, and Butch grew up surrounded by racing culture. They were two of the first black professional speedboat racers in the world. In 1955, they were still the only two African American members of the National Outboard Association. Butch Kennedy raced in high-profile competitions across the United States and Europe, sometimes reaching speeds of 150 miles per hour. In 1982, he won the Parker nine-hour Enduro and the Havasu World Championship back to back, a feat rarely achieved in speedboat racing.
Kennedy ranked as one of the top 10 powerboat racers of his age. Although he set 14 world records over his 37-year boat-racing career, he described racing as a hobby. His full-time work was in commercial heating and air conditioning with Kennedy & Sons, the family business his father founded. But on weekends, St. Louisans could often find him zooming along on the Mississippi River or Creve Coeur Lake