Ubiquitous in the 1990s, most Canadians remember, and every Canadian who has served in the Armed Forces knows, the name Lewis MacKenzie. Major General Ret’d. MacKenzie is regarded as the soldiers’ soldier, a strong-willed, intelligent, no-nonsense field commander best known for leading the UN forces in Sarajevo at the beginning of the siege during the Bosnian War.
In the early months of the conflict, Major General MacKenzie rose to international prominence when he openly criticised both the warring Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian Muslims as the former Yugoslavia was enveloped in chaos. He spearheaded an airlift of food and supplies that undoubtedly saved the residents of one of Europe’s most beautiful cities from starvation during the siege of the Bosnian capital.
General MacKenzie also had a swagger and a sense of humour that was, and remains, endearing, representing the best of the can-do attitude that Canada’s military is known for globally, even when, as is too often the case, resources and supplies, along with political support, are thin.
Upon his return from Bosnia, MacKenzie wrote two books. The first, Peacekeeper: The Road to Sarajevo, chronicled the chaotic first months of the Bosnian conflict. His second book, Soldier Made Me Look Good: A Life in the Shadow of War, discusses his military career more generally, as well as the state of the Canadian military and its leadership.
Reading about MacKenzie from the works of other journalists, including Christie Blatchford, who recalled meeting MacKenzie sitting on a lawn chair in the Sarajevo airport while it was under siege, there is no doubt that the General is a bit of a daredevil, a man who is willing to look fear directly in the eye and win. While his military career is well documented, the retired Major General has never stopped adrenaline-chasing.
MacKenzie’s latest book, Racing Through Life: A Memoir on Wheels, reveals a lesser-known side of the General: his passion for racing cars. It shares stories from his days as both an amateur and professional race car driver, a pursuit he often enjoyed alongside his military career.
MacKenzie’s love of cars began after his father purchased a 1948 Ford Anglia that he tactically acquired for a drive while his father was at the military mess and his mother was asleep. It sparked a late-night habit of getting behind the wheel without his parents’ knowledge. After MacKenzie joined the Canadian Officers Training Corps, a friend who was undergoing officer cadet training took him to a motor racetrack in Jarvis, Ontario, igniting his love of sports cars.
As MacKenzie’s career advanced, he bought his first sports car. Wherever his long military journey took him, his love for speed was always by his side—they were inseparable. From borrowing radios from company stores to dodge the Mounties while racing his MGA outside Calgary, to picking up an Austin Healey 3000 Mk2 during his posting in Germany, and later a Jaguar XKE when stationed at an officers’ staff school in Toronto in 1966—the same car in which he proposed to his wife—cars and career have always gone hand in hand.
MacKenzie entered the motor racing world after befriending the parents of F1 legend Jim Clark, who tragically died in an accident during the 1968 Deutschland Trophäe. What started as a “one-year experiment,” pitched to his wife, grew into a passion that MacKenzie has never stepped away from.
While attending a staff college in the United States, MacKenzie recounts a track owner offering him free practice as a gesture of gratitude for Canada’s role in helping American Embassy staff escape Tehran during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.
After retiring in 1993, MacKenzie put the pedal to the metal as much as he could, even speeding from Mosport to his daughter Kimm’s wedding and returning the next day to avoid missing his qualifying session. Thirty years later, MacKenzie is still competing, often with Kimm joining him on the track, and he boasts as proudly as a father could.
Racing Through Life: A Memoir on Wheels, while not a memoir about MacKenzie’s military career, should be on the list for any Canadian military history enthusiast, as it tells the story and shows the character of one of the finest officers the country has ever produced through his love of high-octane adrenaline. It will be equally interesting to the gearhead and race enthusiast, as the book weaves through decades of automotive history while MacKenzie explains the cars he’s owned, driven, and raced, and the personalities and challenges he’s encountered along the way.
MacKenzie may be retired from the military, but he has no plans to retire from racing. Still hard-hitting in his political commentary and hitting the gas pedal even harder, MacKenzie, at 86, demonstrates that slowing down is a choice.
Racing Through Life: A Memoir on Wheels is available for purchase from Sutherland House Publishing
