I've read some of John Deakin's columns, and will definitively read the rest of them as they sure shed some new light on the methods used to operate piston engines these days. I'm currently working on my ATPL and it is quite interesting to see how my FTO keeps on teaching the old wives tales that have crept into aviation ('squared' power settings, leaning ROP). Of course they own these airplanes, which leaves it up to them to decide how they want them flown, and also if everything works out anybody finishing the training syllabus here will quickly move on to jets/turboprops anyway. But it still surprises me sometimes to see how ignorant of new views on these issues people can be.
I do see a few 'buts' though: as 411A already mentioned the fuel/air distribution in a radial is a lot better than what a flat six/four can achieve. Also the engine instruments at our disposal don't always provide enough info to be able to run the engine to its full potential. Anybody wishing to run their engines like John Deakin advocates should start with a good look at the engine itself as you might need to invest a bit before you can exploit its full potential.