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The Secret Life of Stirling Moss
When 17-year-old Val Pirie answered an advert for a secretarial job in 1958, she little knew her employer would be the famous Stirling Moss, at the height of his career.…
Managing with Moss
Val Pirie began as Stirling’s secretary but soon became his vital aide, fixer, confidante and friend
Moss in his office not long after his Goodwood crash in 1962. Pirie proved a valuable right-hand person
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Ours was a partnership made in heaven. I did what he asked, but I’m my own person and, fortunately, I’m quick-witted enough to keep up with him. But if I thought something wasn’t right, I’d tell him, and he would listen. Our good relationship lasted all our lives.
He was always in a hurry; there was never enough time because everything he needed to do was urgent. At least, he thought it was. What with the weekends of racing, he worked seven days a week. Not to work was anathema to him. There was no time for hobbies, although he did like models – he had a Scalextric set and train layout. Yet one Christmas he stopped playing board games with the kids – because they had begun to beat him! He just had to win at everything.
Moss and Pirie
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From the archive
He was always on the go, but he could relax in the sun. He was proud of his appearance and wanted to be tanned. At home there was a constant stream of visitors to the office, so something like a trip to the barbers in Curzon St for a manicure was a relaxing break – yet he rushed there and back. Of course, we were always mobbed, and it was difficult to get anywhere.
He saw dealing with the public as a duty, and a PR move. He was always polite and would always sign autographs, but he got furious inside if they interrupted his meal. Manners mattered to him, and he thought that wasn’t polite; it irritated him, but the public never saw that. He could hide it and put on the charm. And he was the first person to acknowledge the public with a wave as he drove.
He was quite calm about things and never held a grudge. He would lose his temper sometimes, but when it was over, it was over just like that. A gentleman, always.
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