Señor Nice : straight life from Wales to South America

SUMMARY:The long-awaited and hugely-entertaining sequel toMr. Nice. During the mid-1980s, Howard Marks had forty-three aliases, eighty-nine phone lines and companies trading throughout the world. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to fifty tons from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada. He was eventually busted and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison at Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana for marijuana smuggling. He was released in April 1995, after serving seven years. Senor Nice tells the story of what happened next. After release from prison, Marks changed careers: he wrote two best-selling books, became a sports and travel writer, stood as a parliamentary candidate, and embarked on a long-running sell-out series of one-man shows. While performing in his home town of Kenfig Hill, Wales, an elderly aunt told him of his outlaw ancestry: William Owen, the legendary Welsh smuggler (who had operated for some time in South America) and his great-great-grandfather Patrick McCarty, the half-brother of Billy the Kid, who had joined Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in Patagonia. So, Marks decided to explore South America. His travels took him to Jamaica and Panama in the footsteps of the Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan; to a search for obscure Welsh settlers in Brazil whom he never found; and a search 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 this Oxford graduate to become the world's most notorious marijuana smuggler,Senor Niceis the hugely entertaining sequel toMr. Nice. Howard Marks was released from Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana in April 1995 after serving seven years of a twenty-five year sentence for marijuana smuggling. It was time for a change of career. So he wrote two best-selling books, became a sports writer and travel writer, stood as a parliamentary candidate in Norwich North, Norwich South, Southampton Test and Neath, applied to become the country's Drug Czar, and embarked on a long-running sell-out series of one man shows. 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 really 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 had operated for some time in South America) and his great-great-grandfather Patrick McCarty, the half brother of Billy the Kid, who had 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 the Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan; he went to Brazil looking for groups of Welsh settlers so obscure he never found them (although he did succeed in finding his 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 would induce an Oxford graduate to become the world's most notorious marijuana smuggler, Se�or Nice is the hugely entertaining sequel to Mr Nice . Howard Marks was released from Terre Haute Penitentiary, Indiana in April 1995 after serving seven years of a twenty-five year sentence for marijuana smuggling. It was time for a change of career. So he wrote two best-selling books, became a sports writer and travel writer, stood as a parliamentary candidate in Norwich North, Norwich South, Southampton Test and Neath, applied to become the country's Drug Czar, and embarked on a long-running sell-out series of one man shows. 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 really 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 had operated for some time in South America) and his great-great-grandfather Patrick McCarty, the half brother of Billy the Kid, who had 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 the Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan; he went to Brazil looking for groups of Welsh settlers so obscure he never found them (although he did succeed in finding his 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 would induce an Oxford graduate to become the world's most notorious marijuana smuggler, Señor Nice is the hugely entertaining sequel to Mr Nice . Title Copyright Contents Dedication About the Author Also by Howard Marks Acknowledgements One: The Show Two: Welshmen Three: The Caribbean Four: Seeds Five: Panama Six: Jamaica Seven: Brazil Eight: Busted Nine: Patagonia Ten: The End of the World Eleven: Wales Exploring South America, the author presents an account of his travels to Jamaica and Panama in the footsteps of the Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan, and to Brazil looking for groups of Welsh settlers.