PETER STARR 1942-2023

Ave atque vale Peter Starr! He took it to the limit, but the legendary filmmaker lost his battle with cancer. Virtually everyone in the powersports industry has been inspired by his work and probably personally interacted with the indefatigable promoter, filmmaker and TrailBlazer since he arrived in the U.S. — and we all have stories! Fellow motojournalists Don Emde and Paul Clipper were Peter’s pals from the beginning, so we defer to them.

But Peter transcended the U.S. powersports industry… In 2012, the Taiwanese government commissioned a video about Starr, Starr’s efforts to bring American riders to Taiwan and the extent to which Starr has been embraced by the Taiwanese riding community: www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ExAcPyq7A

Godspeed Peter Starr

Courtesy Don Emde and TrailBlazers Motorcycle Club

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news again, but I got a phone call a short time ago that Peter Starr has passed away. The legendary motorcycle film maker, author and lifelong motorcycle enthusiast lost his 18-year battle with cancer today while staying at the home of a friend in Colorado.

As President of the Trailblazers club, we take this news with great pain, as Peter had been one of our Board members for many years until being designated a Director Emeritus a few years ago. He had made so many contributions to our organization through the years, as well as others during his long career. He was inducted to the Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2011 and the AMA Hall of Fame in 2017.

Peter was probably known best for his movie Take It To The Limit, although he had many other productions which yielded 14 international awards for film making, including the Chicago (Gold) and Houston (Silver) International Film Festivals. One bit of history that Peter achieved in his career was being the first to have a film camera on a motorcycle during an AMA national race — Laguna Seca 1980. The pilot of that motorcycle turned out to be my younger brother David.

That was not the first time that David had worked for Peter. In Take It To The Limit, it was David who was the speeding rider in the opening scene of the movie. There is more to be learned about Peter at the following websites: motostarr.com/peter-starr-bio hof.motorcyclemuseum.org/detail.aspx?RacerID=493&lpos=1845px&letter=S&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLnam e=S&discipline=0

Godspeed to our friend Peter Starr.

Rip Peter Starr

Rest in peace Peter Starr, old friend. To list everything Peter managed to squeeze into one short life would fill many pages here, and I’d still manage to miss a few things I’m sure.

I met Peter way back in 1977, as a green newbie in southern California while Peter was just finishing up production of his film Take It To The Limit. Somehow I was conned into being an extra in a final scene in the movie, where a large group of us “crashed” on a hill at Indian Dunes MX Park and then laid there all afternoon while Peter shot hundreds of feet of film, only to have that day’s work fall to the cutting room floor at the final cut. Somehow or another we hit it off, and our paths crossed regularly over the next 40 years or so. Along the way I helped him out with graphic arts and editing work on a number of his books, and we hung out at quite a few events together.

Peter did me a huge favor when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and took me to his doctor in Phoenix for a second opinion. That’s when I found out that he, too, had tested positive for the disease, and we spent years comparing notes on our progress. That time in Arizona was also the first time I learned his real name was Grahame Wallace, and that he’d adopted his “stage name” when he came to the States during the British Invasion of the 1960s and became a famous radio DJ in the U.S. and Canada.

He had a wild and crazy life — he could tell you stories about Kenny Roberts one minute, then Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits the next. The man had so many friends it’s a wonder he ever got any work done between the socializing!

I understand that he spent his last year finally putting together his autobiography, the story of how Grahame became Starr, and soon we’ll have a chance to read all about it… I can’t wait to see that book.

In the meantime, I’ll just remember the fun times we had together and all the interesting work we collaborated on. Godspeed Peter, I’ll miss you old top. — Paul

Clipper

The family have set up an online memorial page for Peter. It would mean an awful lot if people could pop over and share memories and photos there so they have a central spot to view all your amazing stories about your time with him: www.joincake.com/memorial-pages/peter-graham-wallacestarr/#tributes