Felix Dennis (27 May 1947 – 22 June 2014) was an English publisher, poet, spoken-word performer and philanthropist. His company, Dennis Publishing, pioneered computer and hobbyist magazine publishing in the United Kingdom. In more recent times, the company added lifestyle titles such as its flagship brand The Week, which is published in the UK and the United States.
Early life
Felix Dennis was born on 27 May 1947 in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, the son of a part-time jazz pianist who ran a tobacconist's shop. He grew up poor in northeast Surrey, for a time living in his grandparents' tiny terrace house in Thames Ditton, not far from his birthplace, with his mother, Dorothy, and brother Julian. A place with "no electricity, no indoor lavatory or bathroom ... no electric light, but gas and candles".
In 1958, he passed his 11+ exam to enter St Nicholas Grammar School in Northwood Hills, Middlesex. His first band, the Flamingos, was formed with friends at school.
In 2006, Dennis said in an interview with Oliver Marre of The Observer newspaper:
In 1964, Dennis moved into his first bedsit at 13 St Kildas Road, Harrow, earning rent playing in R&B bands and working as a window display artist in department stores. Briefly working as a sign-painter, he also enrolled at Harrow College of Art.
Career
Publishing
OZ
In 1967, Dennis began selling copies of the counterculture OZ magazine on the streets of London's Kings Road. Later, Dennis became a designer and worked with Jon Goodchild, the magazine's art director.
In 1969, Dennis wrote a world exclusive for OZ, the first ever review of Led Zeppelin's debut album. He was quickly promoted to co-editor and became involved in the longest conspiracy trial in English history over the infamous "Schoolkids OZ" issue. While Richard Neville was on holiday, Jim Anderson and Dennis had invited fifth- and sixth-form kids to edit the issue. They included a sexually explicit Rupert the Bear cartoon strip, which proved too much for the authorities and resulted in the arrest of Anderson, Neville and Dennis, who were charged with "conspiracy to corrupt public morals". The OZ offices in Princedale Road, Notting Hill, and the homes of its editors were repeatedly raided by Scotland Yard's Obscene Publications Squad.
John Lennon recorded the single God Save Oz/Do The Oz to raise money for a legal defence fund.
At the conclusion of the trial, the "OZ Three", defended by John Mortimer, were found not guilty on the charge of "Conspiracy to deprave and corrupt the Morals of the Young of the Realm", but were convicted on two lesser offences and sentenced to imprisonment. Dennis received a more lenient sentence than his co-defendants because he was, in the opinion of the judge, "much less intelligent" and therefore less culpable. These convictions were later quashed on appeal. Dennis later told author Jonathan Green that on the night before the appeal was heard, the OZ editors were taken to a secret meeting with the Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, who told them that they would be acquitted if they agreed to give up work on OZ. It is alleged that MPs Tony Benn and Michael Foot had interceded on their behalf.
Underground comix
In 1973, following acquittal by the Court of Appeal, Dennis went on to found his own magazine publishing company. When OZ closed down the following year the cOZmic was continued by Dennis and his company, Cozmic Comics/H. Bunch Associates (which published from 1972 to 1975). UK-based cartoonists published by Dennis included Edward Barker, Michael J. Weller, Dave Gibbons, Bryan Talbot, and Brian Bolland.
With the rising popularity of martial arts with the film Enter the Dragon, Dennis's Kung-Fu Monthly became a success just two years after the OZ trial, making over £60,000 in its first year. The magazine was published in 17 countries and ran for 13 years.
Computer magazines
Dennis was the second publisher of Personal Computer World which he later sold to VNU. He established MacUser, the worldwide rights of which he sold to Ziff Davis Publishing in the mid-1980s, but Dennis continued to publish the UK publication until its demise in 2015. In 1987, with Peter Godfrey and Bob Bartner, he co-founded MicroWarehouse, a company that pioneered direct IT marketing via high quality catalogues. The computer mail order company eventually went public on the NASDAQ in 1992. At the time it had 3,500 employees in 13 countries with worldwide sales in 2000 of $2.5 billion. It was sold to a private investment group in January 2000. This created the bulk of Dennis' personal wealth. Dennis also launched the successful UK IT title Computer Shopper.