Tribute to TT reporting ‘ace’ John Brown
REPORTING ACE: John JB Brown
JOHN Brown was a great character within the motorcycle road racing world, as well as being extremely popular and highly respected throughout the sport.
Known universally as ‘JB’, the friendly southerner referred to most individuals he came in contact with as ‘Ace.’
He and his old partner in crime, Norrie Whyte, were the backbone of the Motor Cycle News road race reporting team throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s when the sport was really buzzing.
Before the high-tec, jet-set lifestyle of the past couple of decades, big Norrie and the comparatively diminutive JB travelled the world with pen and paper in hand - usually dictating their copy back to base camp in Kettering via telephone.
John edited the excellent Motor Cycle Racing series of monthly magazines in the 1970s and 80s when names such as Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheene and Kork Ballington were to the fore, although the dynamic duo were also around during the 1960s when Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini were the heroes of the day and the Isle of Man TT was THE big event of the year.
After the MCN era, John was a press officer for World Superbike and ran a PR company with clients such as Shell and Donington Park, where he conducted post-race interviews for many years after the British Grand Prix.
He also dealt first hand with the likes of Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan when he produced press releases for the Honda factory team in the 1990s.
He first attended the TT in 1949 at the age of 15, returning a decade or so later to cover the event for his local paper. For the past 20 years or so he produced race reports and interviews for Daily Telegraph, Daily and Sunday Mirror, The Sun and many others, also working alongside myself on the production of TT News for a couple of years.
JB also covered the Manx Grand Prix and had a great love of steam trains so spent any of his free time on the Douglas to Port Erin line - when he wasn’t in the company of his great mates Harry Martland, Dave Morgan and Kelvin Edgar at the Woodbourne Hotel!
Eddie Lowey MLC presented him with a bus pass and tankard in 2009 on behalf of the Department of Tourism for his 60 years of support for the island and the TT in particular.
He had been suffering heart and lung complications for some time and had not travelled to the island for the past couple of years as a result.
John passed away on Saturday at Kettering General Hospital at the age of 77. His funeral is to be held at 12.45pm on Monday, October 15 at the Albert Munn Chapel, Kettering Crematorium.
Family flowers only, donations if desired to British Heart Foundation via Jack Warwick Family Funeral Services, 2a Wallis Road, Kettering, NN15 6NX.
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Weather for Isle of Man
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
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