There are not many bikers who probably know the personal story and overcoming of Bessie Stringfield (1912-1993). However, now and thanks to the documentary “To Myself, With Love: The Bessie Stringfield Story”it’s only a matter of time before this changes. Among other things, because it has been selected as a contender to win, nothing more and nothing less than an Oscar award.
“To Myself, With Love: The Bessie Stringfield Story”: A love story for motorcycles
This documentary, the work of the director Diane Fredel-Weisrecounts the vicissitudes that Bessie Stringfield had to go through a good part of her life for the simple fact of having been born with motorcycles in her veins. Weis reportedly spent five years in research and production, assembling a team to tell this pioneer’s story.
in the book Motorcycles for Women Only, Jude Smallwood, author of it, a close friend of Bessie Stringfield, recounts some chapters of her life, with whom she shared anecdotes and the road. As detailed on the documentary’s own website:
“He met Bessie in 1979 in South Florida. They bonded over their love of motorcycles and became good friends. Jude and Bessie took trips to the Everglades and visited local friends. Jude appears in the award-winning documentary To Myself, With Love: The Bessie Stringfield Story and shares insights about Bessie and talks about their close friendship.”
Now the story of Bessie Stringfield has been nominated for the Oscars in the category “best documentary short film”. Before that, it has been presented and awarded at various film festivals, taking into account its impact on the public.
Because ““To Myself, With Love: The Bessie Stringfield Story” not only tells the personal story of Bessie Stringfield. It highlights the difficulties that our world presented just a century ago, when seeing a woman on a motorcycle was almost inconceivable.
Bessie, also known as the “Miami Motorcycle Queen”, traveled throughout much of the US, but also to other places around the world, such as Europe, Brazil and Haiti. She served for the Yankee army during World War II, as a military messenger, and worked performing stunt shows on her motorcycle.
In 2000, the AMA created the “Bessie Stringfield Memorial Award» to recognize the outstanding achievements of a female motorcyclist. Stringfield was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1990, the AMA honored her at its inaugural exhibition.Heroes of Harley-Davidson«, since he owned no less than 27 Harley motorcycles.
Today his story beats more strongly than ever, and who knows, perhaps more than three decades after his death, all the merits accumulated throughout his long life will be recognized, granting him an Oscar award for the documentary in charge of bringing his experiences closer to us. .
