Brian Burford - Kelly Moran: A Hell of a Life

Naturally, this book is dedicated to the memory,

the talent and the personality that was Kelly Moran.

No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny
without leaving some mark on it forever.

Franois Mauriac

A book like this doesnt come together without a lot of help and input from many people from around the world. Id like to express my gratitude to everyone who spared the time to share their thoughts and memories of Kelly.

A special thank you to Ron Preston, who was a true friend to Kelly anyone would feel blessed to have a friend like Rapid Ron. Many thanks to Susan Murray-Bridges for the photographs from his early days and also to Lorna Brindley-Moran for her insight and invaluable assistance. Pete Rovazzini also went out of his way to open a few doors and Im very grateful to Jojo Guerin for her help with speaking to Danny Becker. An important thank you must also go to The Picture Man, John Somerville, for turning up some absolute gems from his extensive photographic archive featuring some of the sports best photographers. Also much gratitude to John Chaplin, Alan and Julie Clark, Richard Clark, Dave Curtis, Scott Daliosio, Mike Donaldson, Phil Handel (RIP mate), Shawn Moran, Eric Richardson, Anne Richmond, Carol Stock and, for those in the know, an honourable acknowledgement for Blackie Lawless.

Finally, a special and very important mention for my best friend, Sylvester, for keeping me company and entertained during long days of scribbling and sometimes long nights of deliberating you showed me whats important.

The drawing on the title page is courtesy of Greg Humphreys.

You can view and purchase his artwork at:

www.greghumphreysartist.jimbo.com;

www.facebook.com/GregHumphreysART;

email: greghumphreysart@gmail.com.

Chapter 2:

The opening quote is from No Mans Land, recorded and written by Bob Seger, which appeared on his 1981 album, Against the Wind. Its published by Gear Music Publishing and administered by Minder Music Ltd and is reproduced, under licence, with their permission.

Chapter 12:

The opening quote is from Three Little Tracks by Robert Pfetzing, which appeared in the launch issue of Speedway Magazine. Its published with the authors permission.

Chapter 21:

The opening quote is from That Holy Touch, recorded by Magnum and written by Tony Clarkin. It appeared on their 2002 album, Breath of Life, and is published with the authors permission. Special thanks to Annie Minion of www.magnumonline.co.uk.

Chapter 23:

Fides Non Timet means The Faithful Fear Not and is the motto from the Irish Moran family coat of arms created for Patrick ORourke Moran of Ballinamore, County Leitrim in 1856.

The role of the writer is not to say what we
all can say, but what we are unable to say.

Anais Nin, French-Cuban author (190377)

If you grew up in the 1970s, the chances are that youve heard of Deep Purples temperamental guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, the insanely talented player who gave us the now classic riff to their smash hit, Smoke on the Water. The bands bass player Roger Glover described Blackmores talents in the guitarists unofficial biography by Jerry Bloom as One of those odd people that God pointed a finger at and said, Youre going to have something that nobody else has got.

I believe, when it came to handing out natural talent for racing a brake-less 500cc speedway machine, God pointed a finger at Kelly Moran and presented him with a similar gift of awe-inspiring ability. However, unlike Blackmore, whose moody character often overrode his brilliant playing, Moran possessed an engaging and charismatic persona that endeared him to everyone he met.

At first glance music and speedway racing dont really go together, but I mention this because it was often a topic of our conversations and produced a giggle during the last time I spoke with Kelly who counted AC/DC and Led Zeppelin among his favourite hard rock acts. I had been to see Motorhead and was recounting my amazement at the ageing audience queued up outside, the majority of which were seemingly well past that life begins at forty stage and had swapped their suits in favour of ill-fitting jeans and the obligatory Motorhead T-shirt that struggled to cover midriffs that had seen far too many pies and pints. No longer being in the first flush of youth myself I quipped, I almost went back for my bus pass!

These were the types of conversations that we had over the years. Inevitably speedway and motor sport took centre stage, but you could, and did, talk about all manner of subjects from music to movies and to times past and present. However, that last conversation had more poignancy to it than it first appeared and as time passes little things that he said have become more meaningful.

Its said that you shouldnt meet your heroes, but Kelly Moran was a hero, a friend and an inspiration. While he wasnt perfect, his happy-go-lucky outlook on life, combined with his gentlemanly spirit always overrode his short-comings. I accepted him for what he was a long time before his international speedway career came to an end in 1992.

Some of you will already know that I penned The Moran Brothers in 2002 and may wonder why I have decided to write Kellys story. Well, mainly because he wanted me to.

It first came up in conversation when I picked him up from Heathrow Airport to take him to Brighton to appear in the Brighton Bonanza in 2003. The real story of Jelly Man he called it. I wasnt really sure if he was being serious and I said that wed have to tell the whole truth this time. During the meeting, the announcer asked him if he would be producing his autobiography and he quipped: We could, but it would cause a few divorces! Needless to say his response elicited a lot of laughter. I should have known then that this project wasnt going to go away that easily.

As time passed, and the more I talked to him, this subject came up frequently and I began to realise that he was becoming serious. In fact, when I did a two-part interview with him for Speedway Star, somehow it got out that I was planning a tell-all biography with him. The only thing was, no one had told us. Later he explained that someone had got the wrong idea.

When Malcolm Simmons released his book, which contained several passages that were not particularly complimentary, Kelly called me, cursing and questioning why he felt the need to put such things in print when as far as he knew they hadnt as much as had a crossed word between them ever. We decided that some things are better left unsaid but its all part of the rich tapestry of life. And clearly, it must have been something that left an impression on Simmo at that time, part of his experience. Those tales and others revealed some of the happenings behind the scenes that the public at large dont get to see or hear about.

Once more, he declared that he wanted to put his side across and would call me again after hed given it more thought. At this time, though, his living arrangements didnt make communication easy and the number hed given me just rang out most of the time. Once again, the project drifted away.

It was about eighteen months before he died that we spent about an hour talking about it. Everyone has their darker days, moments and experiences that shape what we become, but we dont necessarily want to make them public. Kellys lifestyle meant that he may have had more than most, but one or two of those moments had a profound effect on his life and really couldnt be left out.