Mr. Nice

Many of my followers have asked why I don’t make more references to Mr. Nice, or Howard Marks as he prefers to be known. There have even been suggestions that I should offer him a guest appearance on this blog in order to promote his public profile and publicize his upcoming film Mr. Nice, starring Jamie Harris as me.

Although I have the greatest admiration for Howard and would do anything to assist his career, I fear that the pressures of celebrity life to which he would be exposed if he were to appear on this blog, might prove too challenging. Referred to in the popular press as ‘the friend and brother-in-law of Patrick Lane,’ Howard manfully struggles with the demands that sudden fame imposes. By nature shy and retiring, Howard has already come a long way from the bucolic but isolated valleys of South Wales and can now hold his own amid the sophisticated banter of my entourage. But to be thrust into the ruthless hurly-burly of a daily blog, with all the public demands and the relentless media attention, is altogether a different kettle of fish and a horse of an entirely dissimilar color which Howard is not yet ready to ride.

I have already, and some have said most generously, allowed him to place his name on the front cover of my latest book Recollections of a Racketeer. I believe this is a suitable first step in making Howard’s name known to a wider public and we shall see how he handles it. If he acquits himself well – at least as well as he acquitted himself at the Old Bailey – then possibly one day he may be invited to be a guest on this blog. Watch this space!