Locals telling the story of a true local hero

It was a project more than a decade in the making but the story of Alex Campbell has now been immortalised and the collaborative project will be launched at a special event in Mount Gambier on Friday, August 2.

Baden Butler, who instigated the passion project, and Geoff Bickerton, have worked side by side on the book, captivated by the story of the motorsport champion whose life was cut short when he lost his life in an accident, aged 49.

“Alex Campbell won seven Australian Championships, built a revolutionary Yamaha engine, raced at the famous Isle of Man TT on two occasions, competed and won the Indonesian GP many times and believe me, there is a lot more in his life story,” Baden said, as energised by Alex Campbell’s story now that the book is finished, as he was as a child growing up at the height of Campbell’s career.

“I’ve always felt since Alex Campbell’s death, that his story needed to be told and as the years rolled on, I was surprised that someone hadn’t done it,” Baden said. “I didn’t know Alex well but was introduced to him at a very young age through my father.

“Alex offered me an apprenticeship when I was 15 years of age, but my father talked me out of it and suggest that I become a electrician.”

But Baden always felt a connection and when he checked out a publication titled ‘Old Bike Australia’ that featured motorcycle racing heroes and found nothing on Alex Campbell, he grew more determined to showcase the local legend.

“I contacted the editor, but there seemed to be no hurry to feature him, so I thought I would start gathering information and see where it went,” Baden said. “I knew Sharon Tucker (Alex Campbell’s eldest daughter) as a friend and ran the whole idea by her and she bent over backwards to help me get started. If fact not of this would have happened without the assistance of the Campbell family.”

Baden also needed the help of someone with quality writing skills and that’s why the collaboration was Geoff Bickerton, a colleague during Baden’s time working in media sales at Radio 5SE, was born.

“Ultimately I have known Geoff for a long time as a friend and I’ve always admired his writing ability and have often called on his talents to help me with creative scripts for various clients over the years,” Baden said. “As I’m not a writer, I knew that this project needed someone to basically bring it home. Geoff was the obvious choice.”

Already firm friends from basically their first meeting, Geoff, who lived in Mount Gambier for around a decade, was more than happy to help Baden bring the story to life.

“I connected with Baden early on while working for my brother in his business The Hitching Rail before moving to a position as creative writer at radio 5SE,” Geoff said. “We hit it off straight away, similar senses of humour and loves of music and eventually went on to form our own musical band, enjoying countless events initially as a duo and later as part of a larger band.”

So helping Baden with a project he knew was so close to his friend’s heart was a no brainer and over the past four years, the project really ramped up to end up in the book that will be launched early next month at Mount Gambier’s Main Corner.

“Alex was majorly influenced by Alex in his formative years, going on to have a keen interest and active participation in competitive motorcycle and sidecar racing, as well as a deeper involvement, like Alex, with the mechanical/ engineering/ build side of the sport,” Geoff said.

Alex’s achievements captivated Baden and after he was tragically killed, Baden always felt deeply that Alex’s benchmarks and successes needed to be recorded and celebrated, that Alex deserved a place in history.”

Much of the groundwork was done by Baden, especially after he connected with the family, and he thoroughly enjoyed the process of delving deeper into the life a man who has inspired not just Baden, but so many others.

“My favourite part in creating the book was initially interviewing various people that knew Alex and hearing their story and the most enjoyable part came later once Geoff seriously got involved and it all came together,” Baden said. “It took lots of emails and loads of conversations with a dear friend working together to bring this book together finally.”

Transcribing hours of audio recordings onto the paper with his one finger typing skills was easily the most challenging part of the book writing process.

And it was a love-hate experience for Geoff as well – both men entering the project having never previously attempted anything of this magnitude.

“The process was joyful, seamless, and created its own energies,” Geoff said. “We had no idea how long this thing would take, and of course, neither of us had actually written a book, so we were making it up as went along.

“This was exhilarating and challenging all at once – enjoying the process but, not knowing if we were doing the right thing or not – all while hoping the result would be worthwhile, enjoyable, readable and ultimately a fitting tribute.”

The final product – Relentless – a title both men believe perfectly encapsulates the motor racing hero.

“Alex’s story is inspiring, a man with an insatiable drive to succeed, win and change things for the better; a force of nature,” Geoff said. “‘Relentless’ sums up his life, never stopping and always moving forward.”

“Through his ability as an engineer and successful sidecar racer, he achieved so much in his 49 years – it is a captivating story,” Baden said.

And that captivating story, centring on Mount Gambier businessman Alex Campbell, will be unveiled by the co-authors, at the Riddoch Arts and Cultural Centre at Mount Gambier’s Main Corner, at 5.30pn on Friday, August 2.