There have been very few coherent life stories of drug users. This book is an exception; perhaps it an authentic history of the modern English drug scene.
A true story of how a man’s fantasies and dreams become reality – sometimes with terrible consequences, but ultimately resulting in something hopeful and good. Imagine ‘Just William meets Junky’ - it’s a very funny, human and sexy ride.
Lenny Bruce
Billie Holiday
Paula Yates
Jim Morrison
Alex Trocchi
Gilbert Friesen
Dave Edney
Sid Vicious
John Belushi
Jerry Garcia
Charlie Parker
Max Parker
Josh Macmillan
Kurt Cobain
Chris Farley
Hillel Slovak
Pete Moore
River Phoenix
This story is not your run of the mill television movie script, “I Came Back from a Drug Hell,” kind of thing, but is an extraordinary tale about temptation, desire, adventure, death and bravery. A story for our time. Loaded with larger than life characters and bizarre situations, both hilarious and very sad.
Starting in the 1960s in the City of Oxford amongst beatniks, gangsters, debauchees, intellectuals, anarchists and poets the story moves to the glorious hills and coast of West Wales and finally to Paraguay in South America where Joe falls hopelessly in love with Latin life.
At 17 he was Oxford’s first major drugs dealer in cannabis and purple hearts selling to, and befriending rich, famous and infamous people along the way. (The first drug squad to be set up in the UK was probably formed in order to tackle the consequences of his trade) After his friend Josh Macmillan (the Prime Ministers grandson) died from a drugs overdose at Balliol, Special Branch began to pay special attention to Joe. The Rolling Stones, Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie (friend of the Kray Twins), Phil Seaman (Air Force drummer), Howard Marks (Mr Nice) and Alexander Trocchi (poet and author) all bought drugs from him at one time or other.
Joe earned extra cash by hiring out his body for sexual favours. It always puzzled him why people fought so hard to justify their particular sexual orientation when all he wanted to do was to luxuriate in sensuality, passion and lustful sex with either men or women. These memorable sexual encounters and risky escapades take place in the time-warp dream of Oxford in the 60s.
“Being Born With A Penis Is Like Being Handcuffed To A Maniac For Life” Kingsley Amis
After spending a year locked up in the then notorious M3, a double locked ward in the city’s Warneford Hospital, in the enforced company of the mad academics of the University, he became hopelessly addicted to heroin, cocaine and methedrine. During this period most of his friends died as a direct result of their drug consumption. He says, “Heroin, sex, they were ways of controlling my imagination. A way of not acting out on my terrifying feelings. My sensitivity drove me like a mad thing and it hurt me too. Every day I hurt”.
Much later, and on the run from the law, Joe fled to Wales where he began to shake off his habit. Drugs and alcohol no longer provided the pain relief that he required and were now presenting him with more problems than they solved. During his rehabilitation he built, by hand, without the benefit of electric power or running water, a five bed roomed house. Later, now clean and determined to repay his debts to society, he founded, built and ran a successful treatment centre and helped many people. Joe was supported throughout by Princess Diana, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Lady Macmillan. (The rehab was featured in BBC2’s Your Life In Their Hands series in 1994) Here he meets his soul mate in Hilary and helps her to establish the first drug-free treatment unit for the emotionally ill in Great Britain.
