I am pleased to have had Steve as a personal friend for over 15 years and I, like all of you, am having a very bad day..

The picture is from Steves book launch on the Island LESS than two months ago, and I feel this pic IS Steve. He signed my copy of the book personally, I will treasure it .............

Anybody remotely interested in motorcycling and motorcycle racing will now, like me, be mourning the passing of eleven-times TT winner and twice Superbikes Champion, Scotsman Steve "Hizzy" Hislop who died yesterday (30/7/03), not on the race circuit but in the pursuance of his newest hobby, that of flying helicopters.......

I first met Steve more than fifteen years ago and have followed his career through the good times and through the bad times..As a freelance in 1989 I was pleased to work with him
and was able to spend time with him in the Honda camp...As a consequence we became good friends and since then have met up at various race meetings and at shows for a chat...

It was in 1989 during Thursdays practice when I was photographing riders from behind the wall on the bend just before Kates that I took a super picture of him coming directly at the camera....After practice he came over to me and said "I saw you up at Kates this afternoon, taking my picture".....Now Steve must have been doing a fair lick through that point yet he picked me out...Since then we often laughed about it and it became a part of my TT chats with people.

I last saw him in the West Coast Cafe under the Hilton when he came to sign his book for the fans who came to see him.....We chatted for a long time and I feel that he and I could chat properly because he was able to trust me...He was quite a shy person and had to know someone very well before he let them into his immediate circle.

Frankly, I will miss him terribly, yet have some great memories of him both on and off the race track. I hope to construct my own dedication to him soon...

We won't forget the date !!!! ( 30-7-03)

Ian Huntly (TTFAN for 55 years)