I am but a lowly motorcycle racing artist that, amongst others, sold Steve Hislop signed prints. Steve and I had an informal business arrangement that he would sign them for me for a fee for me to sell. According to Adam Duckworth of Motor Cycle news I am 'scum' because that is how I make my living.... Making 12 pages of details available some of which we would rather not know about, his accident in minute details rather than an a celebration of his career and life, was not about selling extra copies was it?
Steve was a wonderful down to earth person and a fantastic rider whom I admired and respected. I like many are devasted at his loss. I attended his funeral in Harwick and said my goodbyes at his graveside.
I was the first person he spoke to after getting the sack from the Virgin Yamaha team at Rockingham as he did a book and print signing on my stand there after the racing. I was also trying to contact him on his mobile when he had gone on that fateful day.
If you are in the Adam Duckworth mold I can put my hand up and say that I have committed myself to the administrators of his memorial fund, both in the short and long term. Scum I maybe but I cared a great deal for Hizzy.
RIP Steve God Bless.
Jim Blanchard

YES A GOOD CASE OF BAD REPORTING WE WILL NOT BE BUYING MCN ANY MORE BUT WILL KEEP TABS ON FUTURE INSENSITIVE SENSATIONAL ATTEMPTS TO SELL PAPERS GOD SPEED HIZZY

Jim.

To those of us who know you, we know that you are not "scum" and not someone out to make a fast buck through sensationalism.

We know your background and how you play your part in the community of motorcycling. So have no fear of anyone from here calling you what others have referred to you as.

TTwebsite has advertised Jims products for a long time now and anyone who knows me personally, knows that I will not tolerate anyone making a penny out of this sport, or off the back of anyone involved in the sport that, somehow does not find it`s way back into it again, in one way or another.

That is why Jims products have been advertised on TTwebsite for so long and will continue to be advertised.

He is a member of our community.

Jim, you're not scum...Adam Muckworth is ...he's a sensationalist SUN reporter disguised as a motorcycle enthusiast.
One of your prints hangs on my daughter's wall. She grew up knowing Steven long before he was famous, and would certainly have told me where to put my gift if she thought you were scum.
You and Rod Organ have produced wonderful pictures of Steven, Jim Whitham, Moodie, Mackenzie etc etc. They celebrate the different styles and talents of the riders, and the boys were happy to sign them and hang them in their own homes. I will always value my pictures.
Of course there are scum cashing in on Steven's death, and they include the MCN-type ghouls and those who were fortunate to meet Steven in his last few weeks and have their books signed, only to sell them rather than treasure them. Mr Muck is too stupid, indiscriminate and sensationalist to know the difference.
I normally never buy MCN and haven't for about 15 years, but I foolishly bought it last week. I was horrified at what I found. NEVER again.
Keep spotting the best and painting them, Jim. Make friends with them, and get them to sign their pictures for true fans who will treasure them.

Dunlop Helmets, Hailwood plaques, badges, pictures, books, leathers, motorcycles, you name it, they all make someone money one way or another.....

However I would rather buy a picture off Jim, or Rod or people who are excellent at their "job" than take notice of the unmetered bleatings of an executive sheep.

I put all my "last" personal pics of Steve on my website, not for anything other than to SHARE them with people who knew Steve...Yet even I have had one or two strange comments applied to me.

What is in this strange world that makes people so bitter and critical of people such as Jim, Rod, me, and others who have dedicated their entire lives to a great sport ?

I found the e-bay episode particularly obnoxious but I suppose Steve's book is only an item to non-fans..

No, Jim, continue as before, take no notice, we know your dedication and ability to produce first class memorabilia.......All the best !!!

Thanks for all your support I really do appreciate it.

Adam Duckworth called everyone scum in the editorial section of last weeks paper. I was in Jedbrough at the time, there for Steve' s funeral with my wife and friend Alan Whyman of Kingsbury Ceramics and his grandson Aaron who loved Hizzy and was his number one fan. I started this painting job when I had a nervous breakdown 10 years ago. On reading that, I almost had another one, I felt totally distraught and inconsolable. I have done the right and honourable thing in all my dealings all my life......
I am not sure I want to continue this profession any longer. If losing Hizzy so soon after DJ and Barry Sheene is not enough, but when people call you names like that on top of it all when its the way you make a (modest) living I am sick of it.
Jim

Jim...get the brushes out. How about a Stuart Easton picture, or a new Moodie?
Things could be so much worse.....you could look in the mirror and see Adam Duckworth looking back at you.
Time he started earning an honest dollar, improving the world instead of trying to spitefully detract from others better than himself...hmmmm...lots of those...

Jim i honestly understand how you feel. This sport of ours gives us so much, but can take so much also.Life its self can be very cruel as it has been for all of us this year especially. I hope you can continue it is so rare to have a gift like the gift that you yourself have and the love that you oviously have for roadracing is expressed completly in your paintings.
thanks,
Stella.

Your a just mug if you quit what your doing and obviously very talented and ethical about. Don't know you, but I knew your brother John, and I have never heard of the individual who made the remarks in MCN because I have not purchased a copy since 1984.

What I do know is that I was given a copy of MCN to read a little while ago and threw it away, as far as I was concerned it was just a cheap advertising paper with a bit of garbage thrown in for the mugs, just cannot believe anyone buys it.

MCN, Motor Cycle and Motor cycling all used to be a bloody good read years a go with tons of detailed info on everything they even had full results of every club meeting, racing trials and everything.

I still have every T.T. and MGP copy from 1960 through to 84, plenty of proper journalists in those days like Mike Woollet, John Brown, Norrie White and the rest of them, all great stuff, and well worth while keeping.

MCN is now part of a massive PLC conglomerate thats only concern is profit and its share price, a proper journalist would would not use the expression 'scum' in such circumstances, it's just sensationalism. A case of the Pot calling the Kettle Black.

Just forget it and get on with the job you have far more to offer the punters than MCN will ever have as long as they employ clowns like Adams.

You will find some fine words from Big Norrie and lots of news of bike people in Bikesport News, Tom. A real motorcycle racing paper, as is Irish Bike, if you are keen on Irish racing.

Couldnt agree more about MCN i havnt bought it for years it might be ok to wrap your chips in but i pity the poor chips?

John Leech was one of the first to highlight that there were people cashing in on Hizzies death by advertising products on ebay, which he did on this forum. I tend to agree with his sentiments, they were posted with indecent haste after Steve's death.
Anyone who sells paintings / plates / memorabilia etc. for a living, needs to ask themselves: 'did they promote there products to increase sales on the back of Steve's passing'? If the answer is yes then the Editor of the MCN had a point. If the advertising was pre-planned, and coincided with Hizzies death, then they should ignore the comments because they would not apply to them.
There is, however, the old adage of: he who protests loudest..........

oo...they'd taste funny, Pykey...

Well said, Jim. Like so many others on this site I am very proud to have some of Jim's art in my home. I would like to identify myself with all the comments made in support and appreciation of Jim.

We enjoy the outstanding work of Jim, Rod Organ, Harry Miller and others, the sculptures of Glen English, and the work of the many photographers who have recorded the highlights of and memories of our sport over the decades.

We love to buy their work to have in our homes. They bring beauty and happy memories.

But, after you have hung your print on the wall have you ever thought of how difficult is must be to make a living that way?

Artists, generally, are notoriously poorly paid. They keep going because they love what they do and can't imagine any other life. An artist who is devoted to a specific market like motorcycle racing has a much more challenging time than an artist who paints landscapes or other subjects that have a wider appeal.

How would you like to have to pay the rent on a booth, carry all your easily damaged art many miles to a 2 or 3 day event and hope for enough sales to pay your expenses for the weekend and enough so that you can live until the next event?
That would be a perilous life full of stress and strain.

Ebay has made it possible for artists and artisans to hope to have a small, but steady income. By having auctions all year they are freed from the tyranny of the events schedule and high rentals for stalls.

Thousands of people are full time Ebay sellers. They schedule their auctions weeks into the future. As Jim said, it was just coincidence that he had a print of Steve Hislop for sale at that time.

If you use Ebay you know that if the writer of that article had done a little research he could easily look up all of Jim's previous auctions and realize that this is a regular part of his business.

Would this author's standards of purity require that all bookstores remove copies of Steve's books from their shelves?

Similarly,would the author's high standards require that no publisher would feature stories about Steve that capitalize on his fans' shock and grief? apparently not.

Unfortunately there is a trend in journalism and in the media towards recklessness,coarse language, trash talk and sensationalism in both words and photos. It may sell papers and increase ratings , but it also causes a lot of hurt.

Jim, please don't be discouraged by this. We who know you and appreciate you, are looking forward to your next painting.I see you've already been given some suggested subjects. So, please, pick up those brushes and let us know what your next project is.

All the very best,
Elizabeth

I cant 100% identify with what you are saying Jim. My other half Glen English had similar problems when Joey died. He had already finished the originals of a pewter, and a bronze sculpture of Joey when he was killed. They took him months of hard work to complete, and were supposed to pay our mortgage for the next 6 months or so. Consequently they were mothballed for over a year and only went into production when Joey's widow gave her blessing. Glen could not even consider putting them on sale without her blessing, and he still got flack despite Lynda being given the pewter no.3 and the bronze no.3 being auctioned for charity. You'r going to win in this situation Jim.