My friend Howard

By any standards, his was a life well lived. Born and raised in the small Welsh coal-mining town of Kenfig Hill, Howard won a scholarship to Oxford University, where he earned a degree in nuclear physics and post-graduate qualifications in philosophy.

Although he initially earned his living as a teacher after university, the straight life just wasn’t for him. Instead he turned his considerable talents to drug smuggling – operating for many years under 43 different aliases as he controlled an estimated 10% of the planet’s cannabis supply. Having eluded the authorities for years, and made many millions of pounds, he was eventually arrested in Spain in 1988 by the American Drug Enforcement Agency. He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for his smuggling activities.

Having served seven years in Terre Haute Penitentiary (one of America’s toughest prisons), he was unexpectedly released when it was discovered that the DEA had falsified evidence against him. Already notorious from his criminal career, he became a bona fide celebrity following the release of his autobiography Mr. Nice in 1996. The book was later turned into a successful movie starring Rhys Ifans, and was the subject of his long-running one-man show, An Audience With Mr. Nice.

In 1997 he became a campaigner for drug law reform and stood for Parliament on the single-issue ticket of cannabis legalisation. He continued to campaign for sensible drug policy for the rest of his life.
A true renaissance man, he made his living from writing (he penned several books, including two crime thrillers, and was a columnist for Loaded magazine for many years), DJ-ing, spoken word performances, TV appearances and acting.

As revealed in his final book, Mr. Smiley, he also continued to smuggle until the year 2000, though he switched contraband from cannabis to pills. Unfortunately, his adventures in the ecstasy smuggling world proved a lot less lucrative.

Howard graced the pages of Hot Press on numerous occasions, always giving impeccable quote. His final interview, with this writer, was conducted on November 8, 2015, in front of a live audience in the RDS, as part of the inaugural Metropolis Festival. The interview will be included in a forthcoming feature-length documentary about his wild life and times.

During that conversation, I asked the former physicist did he believe in life after death.

“I believe in life after death, very definitely,” Howard replied. “I don’t believe that the personality will continue. This just happens to be what I believe, I have no evidence for it. I don’t believe my personality will survive any more than my flesh and blood. I think that goes. I just assume that life after death means I’m a very, very, very, very small part of the universe, and I’m happy with that.”

He is survived by his four children.

Denis Howard Marks, 1945-2016. RIP.