Horace Panter Supporting Lives & Times Bowel Cancer Book

Horace Panter is well known for being the bass player in The Specials and as a respected artist. His wife Clare sent me this photo of Horace with his copy of the Lives & Times charity book for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. This is a brilliant photo, as more than just showing off my book, the picture in the background is especially interesting. It is a mash-up done by Horace of an original photo of The Specials taken by world renowned rock photographer Janette Beckman. There is a great before and after shot on Horace's website.

Horace was one of the first photos I did for the book back in 2014, and he has been supportive of the fundraising project ever since. In the book I got a unique insight into Horace's work as both a musician and artist. I got to see his collection of bass guitars and many of his pieces of art. In fact I was so inspired by our meeting that I treated myself to one of his pieces of work. Horace also very kindly donated on of his stunning silk screen prints of The Kiss, which raised £200 for Beating Bowel Cancer.

The book, plus the recent screen print inspired by the book, has now raised over £3250 for Beating Bowel Cancer, which is the second highest cancer killer in the UK, and yet one of the most treatable if caught early. To see all the ways you can buy the book and support the charity click here.

My Mum, the inspiration behind the book, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012. She bravely fought it with courage and dignity for over 4 years with the cancer spreading to her lungs and finally her brain. Sadly she passed away on August 29th, 2016. The fundraising for Beating Bowel Cancer continues on my own website www.bowelcancerfundraising.co.uk and I am doing a new fundraising book in Mum's memory.

A Personal Treat After Meeting Horace Panter

I had a fascinating experience meeting and photographing Horace Panter for the book. Not only is he the bass player in The Specials, but he is also a respected artist. I had seen him watching Dave Wakeling's English Beat at Oxford, which gave me the idea to contact him about being part of the book. I met him at his house and you can read all about the experience in the book, including seeing his collection of bass guitars and his original works of art. To see how you can order the book click here.

One of my favourite collections of his work are the cassette editions. Bands like The Jam, The Clash, Madness, Blur and of course The Specials feature. The cassettes feature details of the original recording sessions, the one below is Blur's She's So High. You can visit Horace's website by clicking here.

During the course of putting the book together, I tried to support the people who were so generously supporting me, and so I decided to treat myself to one of Horace's prints. He did a limit edition print of a blank TDK tape, which you could personlise with your own design. I chose to have mine personalised with a recreation of an old Radio 1 In Concert by The Alarm I had recorded back in 1984. I still have the original tape so I was able to send Horace the details with my own handwriting and he came up with the design you can see at the top of this page.

It's a lovely piece of work, and will always remind me of my love of not just The Alarm, but of my meeting and the time spent with Horace. The book has now raised over £900 for Beating Bowel Cancer. I'd love it to raise £1000, so it's edging closer towards the magic figure. My mother has major surgery this week in her continuing battle with bowel cancer.

Horace Panter of The Specials Supporting Bowel Cancer Fundraising Book

Right back at the start of the Lives & Times book I spent some time in the company of Horace Panter at his house in Coventry. He is the bass player in The Specials and also a respected artist, and I got to see him at work in his studio. He was a real gentleman being ever so helpful and a really interesting man to talk to. I got some great photos for the book and lots of anecdotes from him. He also makes a mean cup of tea! Having met him I read his biography on the band Ska'd For Life which is absolutely fascinating. I also purchased one of Horace's cassette prints which is now adorning one of the walls in my living room. Another great chapter in the making for the book.

He has sent this video message of support... well he sent 3 video clips but only 1 is broadcastable :)

Check out Horace's website http://www.horacepanterart.com/ where you can see his fascinating art.