Biography:
Linda Jo Giovannoni (pronounced Joe-Van-No-Knee) is an influential motorcycle journalist and rider who co-founded Harley Women magazine, the first national motorcycling publication devoted to women motorcycle enthusiasts. Her involvement with Harley Women led to appearances on national shows such as Geraldo, The Vicki Lawrence Show, National Public Radio, and many more. The book Hear Me Roar, by Ann Ferrar, also features Giovannoni.
Giovannoni was born in Waukegan, Illinois. She grew up in the Chicago area in the 1950s and ’60s and was a self-proclaimed gearhead from an early age. At 14, she hung out with friends at local drag races. She became part of a racing crew, starting out by cleaning parts. As soon as she got her driver’s license, Jo began drag racing cars.
Her first rides on a motorcycle were as a passenger. Her fiancé terrified Jo so much that she didn’t want to have anything to do with motorcycles. Later, he tried to teach her to ride on an old Harley with a hand-shifter on the tank. She crashed several times on the lumbering machine.
Before her fiancé was sent to Vietnam, he had leave in Panama City, Florida. There, he rented a couple of small bikes for him and Jo to ride. He stood there and yelled at me trying to get me to ride the bike, Jo said. I finally got on the bike just to shut him up. I took off and that was it. I was hooked.
Riding the smaller bike was just what Giovannoni needed to overcome her fear of riding. She began riding back home in Chicago and soon bought her first motorcycle, a Triumph Bonneville. She wanted a Harley-Davidson, but still had the memories of her first experience on the big tank-shifter in her mind. Finally, a friend convinced her to ride his Harley chopper and she found she was able to handle it, despite the totally different handling characteristics of a bike with an extended fork and raked frame. She promptly sold her Triumph and purchased a Harley Sportster.
In 1977, Giovannoni began working in the parts department of a local Harley-Davidson dealership. At first, she was intimidated by the vast catalog of parts. All I wanted to do was sell T-shirts, she said. I thought I knew a lot about bikes, but I found out I had a lot to learn.
She got involved in the rights organization ABATE. In the early 1980s, she met Becky Brown, founder of Women in the Wind. In 1983, Giovannoni went on to form the second chapter of what would become an international riding organization. Giovannoni began doing a newsletter for the local chapter of Women in the Wind.