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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: So Nice to meet you - Howard Marks
Morecambe Today
Wednesday 23 Aug 2006 A NEW multi-media show based on 'Señor Nice', the long-awaited sequel to the international best-seller 'Mr Nice', is coming to The Dome in Morecambe on October 6. Born in 1945 in Kenfig Hill, a small Welsh coal-mining village near Bridgend, Howard Marks rose to become "the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time" (Daily Mirror). With the help of friends and fellow students at Oxford University, Howard built a worldwide smuggling network, allegedly becoming responsible for the majority of marijuana smoked in the Western world during the 1970s and '80s. Once an agent for MI6 (Her Majesty's Secret Service) and the orchestrator of major cannabis deals direct with members of the American CIA, Howard had 43 aliases and at least 25 companies as cover for his smuggling empire. His motivation became the legalisation of cannabis/marijuana, and a determined will to beat the system (he would not trade in other drugs and gave away huge profits). After two biographies 'High Times' by David Leigh, and 'Hunting Marco Polo' by Paul Eddy and Sara Walden, Howard set about his autobiography – 'Mr Nice' (named after his most famous alias, Donald Nice). First published in 1996, it has now sold over 880,000 copies in the UK alone, and 10 years on remains a worldwide best-seller. Howard writes for Time Out , The Observer and the Times, and is a respected expert on the pros and cons of legalising cannabis. He applied to become the country's 'Drug Czar', appeared in several films and embarked on a long-running sell-out series of one man shows (including 11 sell-out shows at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire). Señor Nice tells the story of what happened next… While performing in his home town of Kenfig Hill, he fell among old friends who made extraordinary claims for Welsh culture. Was Elvis really Welsh? Was there a tribe of Welsh-speaking Native Americans? At the same time his elderly aunt told him of his outlaw ancestry: William Owen, the legendary Welsh smuggler (who'd operated for some time in South America) and his great-great-grandfather Patrick McCarty, the half brother of Billy the Kid, who joined Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in Patagonia. He decided to explore South America. His travels took him to Jamaica and Panama in the footsteps of Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan; he went to Brazil looking for groups of Welsh settlers so obscure he never found them (although he did find musical idol Jimmy Page); and he searched among the thriving Welsh community in Patagonia for signs of Billy the Kid's half brother. Richly comic and charged with the sense of adventure that induced an Oxford graduate to become the world's most notorious marijuana smuggler, Señor Nice is the hugely entertaining sequel to Mr Nice. Howard previewed An Audience with Señor Nice, at this year's Edinburgh Festival. Call The Dome on 582803 for more details. http://www.morecambeonline.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=132&ArticleID=1714553
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