lucifer sam 3,953 Posted July 7, 2007 Now finished the book. An excellent read, and don't worry, it doesn't hold back. It is interesting to finally read Bruce Penhall's views on Kenny Carter, even though they're not pretty!! And has it changed my opinion on Kenny Carter - the rider I loved to hate as a child? Not really. The bloke was dealt a very hard difficult of set of cards, but it still doesn't excuse his completely arrogant, unlikeable personality, and certainly doesn't excuse his dreadful final act. All the best Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fireblade 0 Posted July 7, 2007 I would respectfully suggest that the whole concept of this book is insensitive to the Carter family.... IMO, Kenny Carter's life, bearing in mind the shocking way it ended and the terrible harm done to so many by him was NOT in anyway a suitable subject for a book. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Crime books about The Yorkshire Ripper etc then are not suitable? There was an in depth feature about Kenny including the tragic end in 5-1 years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exiled Bandit 0 Posted July 10, 2007 Given that any comments made by the subject of the book are rendered invalid by the fact that he is dead, why can't we be told the complete story? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Don't think that you understand the libel laws very well - obviously you cannot libel anyone who is dead ... but those living can be libelled, even by a dead man, and sue the a**e off anyone who repeats those libellous comments. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel 38 Posted July 10, 2007 (edited) "You cannot be sued for libel if what you are saying is true". If the author has left something out of the book for the fear of being sued, It is either untrue or hearsay which cannot be proved. I think Bobbath has a point, he percieved the review in a certain light, others may have done the same. Perhaps the wording was ill considered?. It seems the review could be seen as a bad piece of PR or perhaps it could be a marketing ploy to create a greater air of 'mystery' ?............it certainly got the book plenty of publicity on this forum......No such thing as bad publicity ...only publicity. Inevitably books written about controversial charactors and events will unfortunately offend someone, but books have a long way to go to catch up with the Tabloid newspapers, who have no qualms about offending those close to a tragedy. Edited July 10, 2007 by Nigel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Parsloes 1928 nearly 495 Posted July 11, 2007 Crime books about The Yorkshire Ripper etc then are not suitable? Well, it depends in the setting in which they're promoted.. Obviously many books are written about awful crimes..: but one wouldn't expect the Yorkshire Tourist Board to promote the Ripper books by selling in their outlets with a smiling face of Pete Sutcliffe on the cover and a blurb that read "the full sensational story" etc. And ditto with books about the awful events in Soham a couple of years back.. Not that I'm comparing Kenny Carter to those crimes (it was someone else who made the Ripper comment...): but I personally have reservations about a biography being sold at tracks around the country and promoted the way it has, when - as Rob has pointed out on another thread - the awful circumstances of Carter's death and that of his wife was splashed luridly over the front pages in most of ours recent-ish memory bringing the whole sport and those of us who love it into a measure of disrepute and shame. I respect Tony very much and am sure he's written an excellent, well-balanced book and I think Richard Clark's review in the Star summed up the problems with the subject matter and did say it has been handled sensitively and expertly. Just my opinion really (and yes, maybe a touch puritanical on my part.. ) that this was an incident (and by association, a life & career) which I didn't in all honesty want to see promoted in this way.. Learning lessons is valuable from any incident (and yes, there's been tragic suicides of other riders including a great hero of mine, Billy Sanders..) but the case of Kenny Carter is an awfully dark one and sometimes darkness is best left alone.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WATigerman 1 Posted July 11, 2007 (edited) ................the awful circumstances of Carter's death and that of his wife was splashed luridly over the front pages in most of ours recent-ish memory bringing the whole sport and those of us who love it into a measure of disrepute and shame. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quite how you come to the view that the events under discussion bring 'a measure of disrepute and shame' to those who love speedway is beyond me. Edited July 11, 2007 by WATigerman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff. 2 Posted July 11, 2007 Quite how you come to the view that the events under discussion bring 'a measure of disrepute and shame' to those who love speedway is beyond me. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Equally then I presume Parsloes considers Peter Sutcliffes crimes bringing shame on all Yorkshire folk, or Fred West bringing shame on the construction community nationwide. Kenny Carters crime brought shame on Kenny Carter and Kenny Carter alone. He of course heaped misery and suffering on numerous friends and relatives through his crime. The question here seems to be should this story be told in all its horrific detail? My personal opinion is yes it should. A long time has passed and the heartbreak caused at the time is much less raw now over 21 years since the shooting. There will be nothing in the book that Malcolm and Kelly Marie are not aware of and so will not adversley affect them. Ultimately sales will decide if Tony Mac has misjudged the mood of the people, if he sells hardly any copies then Parsloes can claim "told you so" but I suspect the book will sell like hot cakes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Parsloes 1928 nearly 495 Posted July 11, 2007 Quite how you come to the view that the events under discussion bring 'a measure of disrepute and shame' to those who love speedway is beyond me. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What you don't think that the fact that Britain's top rider at the time did what he did and it was front page news in all the national dailies did any harm to the reputation of the sport and didn't have an effect on the shunning of the sport by that same media over many following years....?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatface 2,552 Posted July 11, 2007 Although I've not read cover-to-cover yet, I have had a damn good pick through it and I think it is a very good read indeed. I wouldn't let John Berry put anyone off. For what it's worth I find Berry a rather smug, self-satisfied writer, albeit a very readable one...if that makes any sense?! ("Confessions", is just about the best speedway book out there IMO). The Kenny Carter book provides a nicely balanced view of the guy with some good little anecdotes and quite a few tasty morsels that I didn't know. As far as I can see the only things missing are: "Which Yanks were on drugs?" and "Was Kenny or Pam ever unfaithful?". Of course, the involvement of the families would have given the book even greater depth, but I think most will understand their decision not to be involved. Overall, I'd say it was a bloody good effort and well worth buying. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rainman 81 Posted July 11, 2007 Well my book came this morning and i am up to chapter 12 cant put it down nearly missed picking little en up from school. I was thinking what he would have made of the GPs and riders pulling out all to often he wouldnt have would he Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest sjl Posted July 11, 2007 Well my book came this morning and i am up to chapter 12 cant put it down nearly missed picking little en up from school. I was thinking what he would have made of the GPs and riders pulling out all to often he wouldnt have would he <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mine arrived today also, unlike you I have not started to read it yet but it won't take me long. It strikes me that whether you liked him or not it makes for an interesting read and there's no doubt that his early life was troublesome --- and that is an understatement at best. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dean 0 Posted July 11, 2007 Just finished it. Great read, Kenny really had a tough upbringing(oviously i make no excuse for his selfish final act though). As a rider he was terrific, i first started going to the speedway in 82 and remember KC winning the BLRC, he was awesome!!Couldnt believe he was only 25, what a terrible waste, not just to speedway but more importantly his children. It is however, clearly a sad story in which the authour tells it like it was. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff. 2 Posted July 12, 2007 What you don't think that the fact that Britain's top rider at the time did what he did and it was front page news in all the national dailies did any harm to the reputation of the sport and didn't have an effect on the shunning of the sport by that same media over many following years....?? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In truth I don't believe Carters crime to be the reason for the decline in media interest. The media were losing interest in speedway in the 5 or 6 years before this anyway, and the loss of World of Sport was a crushing blow to speedway regarding TV exposure. Paradoxically Kenny Carters death probably hastened the media decline in as much as they lost the last really marketable, and well known outside of speedway circles, English rider, Simon Wigg came close but other than that, Tatum, Cross, Doncaster, Morton etc, hardly in the same mould as Carter. Their have been books and films made about many similar killers, remember dance with a stranger, it told the story of Ruth Ellis who was hanged, because believing her boyfriend to be having an affair took a revolver and shot him. Does that sound familiar. I am fully aware there was more to the Ellis story than that but there was no public outcry over this story being told. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WATigerman 1 Posted July 12, 2007 (edited) What you don't think that the fact that Britain's top rider at the time did what he did and it was front page news in all the national dailies did any harm to the reputation of the sport and didn't have an effect on the shunning of the sport by that same media over many following years....?? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The point I was highlighting in my comment was that you state that the events bring a measure of disrepute and shame upon all those who love speedway. I love speedway and doubtless like everyone else was horrified by what happened. But do I as a speedway lover feel shame? I was horrified by what happened but neither shame nor disrepute rests with speedway fans who had nothing to do with events. Edited July 12, 2007 by WATigerman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tigerbrandcoffee 0 Posted July 12, 2007 What you don't think that the fact that Britain's top rider at the time did what he did and it was front page news in all the national dailies did any harm to the reputation of the sport and didn't have an effect on the shunning of the sport by that same media over many following years....?? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You must be joking...tabloids eat this kind of headline for lunch and it sells their papers. If the media chose to cold-shoulder the sport it was because nothing of any interest to them (ie headline grabbing, paper selling scandal) ever happened. The Simon Wigg race-fixing hoo-haa did more to discredit speedway than this tragedy ever did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
