I also live in his old town Lewes, and a lot of people forget that a large proportion of the town burnt him in effigy, a shoemaker even put 'T' & 'P' shaped hobnails on the underside of the boots he made so people could sybolically tread on the 'traitor's initials'!
It seems that in the rush to brand the town with his name and identity, people forget what revolution meant- a lot of blood spilt, in-fighting, wrong imprisonment,and a liberty the revolutionary then decries (such as the carrying of arms which Paine did not believe militias should do).
I've been commissioned to paint a mural of him alongside thirteen other famous sons and daughters of the town which will come out as a book in the autumn, entitled 'They Lived Here'- in the book I hope to reflect the dichotomy of this figure.