A man who loved this town, this part of Ireland and the people who live here. It is clear that the people of North West Ulster loved William Speedy Moore too.
Speedy became a legend because he became our very own version of a Renaissance Man - a gifted musician, a legendary storyteller, a skilful fisherman, who actually didn't mind having his tales being bigger than the fish he caught, and an award-winning journalist who received the MBE and saw his achievements as a must-read columnist for The Coleraine Chronicle earn the reading of a special citation in the British House Of Commons.

What a legacy he left - and all of it by the wonderful character we all loved and knew as Speedy. So let's settle one thing once and for all - where that nickname came from!
I'm told - though you have to be careful with Speedy's stories - that he took it on as a lad by appearing to be ultra quick on a push-bike that was stuck in third gear. According to the story, he cheated at a bicycle race by hiding in the bushes until the last lap when he rejoined the race again and rode like a mad man to take first place and the purse of five shillings.

But according to sod's law he lost the five shillings on the way home. It dropped out of his pocket and the moral of the tale, of course, is that there is no gain in cheating. But the tag 'Speedy' stuck with him for the rest of his life.

Speedy was born in 1912 at 44 Abbey Street and the Chronicle office was on the corner so that building became more than a landmark to Speedy. He eventually moved to a terraced house on the Strand Road. His mother, Mary Edith, worked as a cook for the RUC and his father Willie drove a horse and cart. There were four sisters, Martha, Etta, Jennie and Annie.
From an early age he was musically minded, his first instrument being a fiddle. One neighbour said when she heard Speedy on the fiddle it sounded like a cat being strangled! He then progressed to the saxophone and banjo.

In the early days he referred to the latter as his passport because he played it all over the world and it helped pay for his travels. Later in life he taught himself how to play the Hawaiian guitar.
Speedy was blessed with the gift of music. And it was a gift he shared with all who crossed his path, in various parts of the world. He went on to record a wide range of music using various instruments and issued several tapes and CDs.

Everyone enjoyed Speedy's music, even President Clinton loved it. In fact he played along with Speedy in the White House!
When Speedy started telling friends and family this back in the 90's I'm told they all rolled their eyes. This time he was clearly going too far with one of his tall tales but it turned out a woman living in Ballycastle, a good friend of Bill Clinton's mother, had purchased Speedy's tape of saxophone music and loved it so much she sent a copy to Mrs Hilary Clinton. And she loved it so much she quickly shipped it over to her son, an avid saxophone player.

So you can imagine the reaction of the said friends and family when The Belfast Telegraph came out with the headline: 'Clinton loves Speedy's music'! Bill's mother quickly sent the CD over to her saxophone loving son at the White House…and not only did the President love it, but according to the Telegraph, he sat up late at night in the White House playing the tunes along with Speedy.

When the paper landed at the Moore household Speedy never said another word…he just put on that famous Speedy smile.
Before he wrote for the Chronicle Speedy hawked it around the streets of Coleraine selling it for a penny. His first article appeared in his teens and that was a magic moment - he often recalled it because he took it to bed that night and fell asleep reading it over and over again.

Speedy's People and Places column was legendary in these parts and was often the first thing people turned to when they got the paper. It ran for almost 70 years - an incredible achievement - which in 1985 earned him the M.B.E for his contributions to journalism.
He went to Buckingham Palace with his family to collect the award from Prince Charles himself - and I am told, to this day, Charles has still not got over his encounter with Speedy.

A rare and original kind of journalist, a gifted musician and as many know from first hand experience, Speedy was also in true Irish tradition, a wonderfully entertaining storyteller.
As a result he was a regular guest on many local radio stations, TV programmes and documentaries broadcast all over the world.
And as if that was not enough, over the course of his amazing career he managed to find the time to write 11 books.

In his writings and stories Speedy introduced us to a collection of unforgettable characters who captured for all of us the splendour of this beautiful corner of the world, the uniqueness of the people who live here and always their wonderful sense of humour.
Thanks to his gifted writing Speedy's characters came to life for us - and enriched our lives. His People and Places helped us all revel in the special nature of this place we inhabit and the great characters who share it with us.

His characters were rich and poor - they were important - or maybe in Speedy's view, self-important as they were often about ordinary Ulster folk making their own special contribution to our heritage.
People like Pokey Barr who lit the gas lamps. Pokey was also a great dancer and there is an oil painting of him painted by Arnie Armstrong who was the manager of the Gas Works back then.

He also recorded Arnie's story who died tragically in his 40s leaving a wife and a young family living at Rose Cottage, Portballintrae, the only thatched cottage still left standing in that once quiet village. Pokey Barr, I believe, still hangs on the wall of that cottage.
No subject was beyond Speedy, like the story about "The Mohair Coat". A coat in those days was a precious thing and when boys grew out of them they were passed down to younger brothers. This particular coat started off with Speedy who was given it by the lady of the big house who lived on an estate where County Hall is now situated..
Speedy recorded the coa'ts history in a humorous and moving way, and when Tommy Roycroft, who became Senior Reporter for The Northern Constitution, was typing the story up for print he said it moved him so much it brought tears to his eyes. And the way Speedy finishes the story of in a nonchalant way in that one night he was in Garvagh years later and the coat walked past him alive and well...

Then there was the couple who fell through the dance floor in a building on Union Street. One night he was playing with his dance band 'The Nighthawks'. People kept dancing and remembering to avoid the hole. The couple in question, he reported, were not hurt as they managed to land on bails of straw stored underneath.
In his extraordinary career Speedy unbeknowingly compiled a history of the people of Coleraine and surrounding area through his articles. He had, in his long life, witnessed mighty changes in the town, not all of it for the better.

His son, Adrian, told Speedy a few weeks before he passed away that he intended to put a book of his articles and photos together for prosperity and call it People and Places. Speedy said, "Make sure you do that…in fact I'll give Reggie Smith a ring tomorrow". Reggie is a local printer who worked with Speedy in the early days.
So Speedy will be remembered through his writings in People & Places. He became an information bureau: people from all over the world tracked him down by phone or called at his door asking, did he know such and such a family who lived on the Long Commons in the 1920s before taking the boat to New Zealand or USA?

Usually Speedy did know and would say while you're here let's get a picture of you and the story would appear in his page the next week.
Speedy's life was a series of chapters: music, writing, marriage, family, fishing, the Coleraine Battery, war, his travels...and for the last 29 years of his life his faith.

In the second half of his life he found redemption and became a believer. And he devoted the rest of his life to God. But the music and the stories didn't change…maybe he threw in a few more hymns to his musical repertoire. They just changed location, moving from the dance halls and the bars to the church halls and the religious meetings
Speedy passed away with ease but up until the last moment he was still eating banana and ice-cream. Adrian said that while feeding him: "When we get you back on your feet we will go to the Lodge Hotel for a steak." And he opened his eyes and said "That would be nice".

Adrian reported this news to family in Canada and USA that Speedy was close to death. His daughter Christine said "Tell my daddy to travel towards the light". Adrian tried to utter these words to Speedy a few times but could not finish the sentence because he became choked up.
But that same night Wednesday, July 30, when Speedy finally passed away Adrian and Sharon went back to the cottage around 10-45pm to say goodnight and for some reason Adrian managed to say to Speedy: "It was a pleasure knowing you and have a safe journey" and Christine added "You are to travel towards the light" and that "we all love you", Christine from Canada, Willis from Bristol and Valeria from California. Five minutes later Speedy died.

The nurse said sometimes a family has to let go in order for those waiting to cross over can let go themselves.
Speedy, it seems, was waiting for that final goodnight from his loved ones.
When Speedy passed away he was a few months short of his 96th birthday. He simply died from old age. His was a life full of swings and roundabouts and he lived it to the full.
He died because his time had come and we should celebrate and be happy that Speedy has safely crossed over and made it home.

Tribute: Adrian Moore and Bob Culbert.