Awww, sorry to hear about the broken hip; give him a hug for me, won't you. Here's something from google:
Hobart Brown
A resident of the Victorian village of Ferndale, California, Hobart Brown is known for his works of art made from wire coat hangers and fencing. In 1969, Brown became a local celebrity when he initiated the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race.
The inspiration for the race came when Brown set out to repair his son's tricycle with a welding iron and ended up creating a whimsical, six-foot construction with five wheels, two seats, and a roof. The first Kinetic Sculpture Race consisted of five human-powered works of art that traveled a one-block course in Ferndale on Memorial Day in 1969.
Often credited with the inspirational quote "Having more money does not insure happiness; people with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars",
Hobart Brown was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 by Richard Langfort, a professor of psychology in a nearby college.
Langfort, an expert on youth suicide, saw the Brown's sculpture race as a means of giving isolated children a sense of hope. It perhaps goes without saying that Brown did not win.