When I first began writing online content for BMW CCA, it was hosted behind the bmwcca.org paywall, but at some point it was recast under the publicly-available BimmerLife.com banner. As such, I don’t know how many folks who read my pieces here are BMW CCA members and also read Roundel magazine. But quite a few CCA members emailed me saying they were shocked by the quadruple news in their November Roundel that not only was it Satch Carlson’s last issue, but that I, Jackie Jouret, and Brian Morgan who has been writing the “Racing Lines” pieces in the back of the magazine for decades, are all leaving. While it’s not my place to be a mouthpiece for BMW CCA or Roundel magazine, I CAN talk about the wind-down of my Roundel column, and how it’s not exactly the “end of an era” that it might seem.
I’ve been writing for Roundel magazine since March 1986, making this my 40th year. I began by writing longer-form pieces, but after a few years, editor Yale Rachlin asked me to become a regular columnist. This crystalized out in my thousand-word Hack Mechanic columns that began in 1990. Writing them has been a joy.
My very first Roundel piece.
Fast-forward 27 years. I wrote my first book in 2013, left my long-standing engineering job in 2015, began working full-time for Bentley Publishers, and wrote two books for them. That ended abruptly in 2016. I briefly went back to my “real job,” but that ended abruptly just before New Years, and I began 2017 unemployed for the first time since 1984. Both BMW CCA and Hagerty came to my rescue by offering me weekly online writing assignments, for which I was and still am grateful (to make the obvious pun) beyond words. I also began writing the “Wrenching Thoughts” column in the back of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine, and wrote and self-published five more books.
I mention all this because it shows how my Roundel magazine columns went from being my only writing outlet to being one of several. In addition, over the years, the number of annual issues of Roundel magazine dropped from 12 a year to ten, and in 2025, went down to four (alternating with BimmerLife magazine). Although the thousand-word columns are precious to me, everything ends, and the question becomes whether to end it on your own terms or have it slip away in the night when no one cares.
Those of us on the Roundel staff were aware that editor Satch Carlson was leaving at the end of 2025. I thought he made it pretty clear to the general readership in his regular column in 2025 Roundel issue #1 that this year was his last. With Satch leaving after 29 years, and with the magazine down to just four issues a year, I honestly didn’t know whether Roundel magazine would continue into 2026. But personally, with Mike Miller’s sad passing, and with this being my 40th year, it felt like it was time. If you read my columns, my subtle tip-off was that I asked Satch to change my column heading picture back to the original column photo that Yale Rachlin took 35 years ago. As the deadline for submission for my final column approached, I began writing a farewell piece.
Then, something surprising happened. In late August, those of us who are Facebook friends with Jackie Jouret saw her announcement that she was stepping away from both her editorship of the front section of BimmerLife magazine and her submission of historical pieces in the back of Roundel. I called Jackie to ask her if she knew something I didn’t. She DID, but not in any negative sense—she knew that Travis Okulski had been appointed to succeed Satch. I don’t know Travis, but Jackie referenced his qualifications for the job (time at R&T, Jalopnik, and Motorsport Network), and said that it had absolutely nothing to do with her decision. Instead, we talked about knowing when it was time to go. Coincidentally, later that evening, Satch sent an email to the Roundel staff announcing Travis’ appointment.
So there I was with a farewell piece already written, but one of its underpinnings—the uncertainty of whether Roundel magazine would even be around in 2026—having been removed. I gave myself the evening to think it over. I include the farewell column below. At the end, you can see that there was “a sign” that tipped the balance to calling it a night after 40 years.
As far as Satch and Jackie and me and Brian Morgan leaving, one of the quirks and charms of Roundel is that I use the word “staff,” but people write and send pieces in to the editor, and the magazine is laid out and printed, without the magazine having a central office. There’s no “water cooler” for us to congregate around and trade the inside skinny. Just like mine and Jackie’s, Brian’s reasons are for leaving are his own. So there’s no coordinated exodus. No rats from a sinking ship or anything like that. Well, I THOUGHT that the ship was sinking, but I elected to ride it all the way down with the captain. So the joke was on me :^)
About a month later, Travis’ appointment was announced publicly. He emailed the Roundel staff, and sent me a nice personal note saying that he’s a fan, would love to change my mind, and that the door is certainly open to any Roundel magazine contributions I’d like to make. I can easily see me returning to my origins of sending in occasional longer-form pieces instead of the thousand-word columns.
So. This is one of those things that is both exactly what it appears as well as less than it appears. We’re only talking about the cessation of four columns a year. I’ll still be writing weekly here for BimmerLife online, Hagerty online, and Hagerty’s magazine for as long as my arthritic back will allow.
But it all began in Roundel, and it all crystalized in those columns. They will always be precious to me.
Especially when I still look like a kid.
—Rob Siegel
