Howard Marks - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Marks was born in Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, Wales, the son of Dennis Mark, a captain in the Merchant Navy, and Edna, a teacher. He has stated that his earliest memory is of throwing his father's ship's cat into the Indian Ocean; he also stated that that memory haunted him for the rest of his life, and that he was so young at the time that he had expected the cat to catch fish and then swim back to the ship. Brought up as a Baptist, he later turned to Buddhism, though he did not become a devout follower. He attended the Garw Grammar school in Pontycymer. He is a fluent Welsh speaker.

He gained a place at Balliol College, Oxford after he impressed Russell Meiggs in his interview, and read physics there from 1964 to 1967. There he was first introduced to cannabis by Denys Irving (Musician, Filmmaker). After the death of his friend Joshua Macmillan (son of Maurice Macmillan; grandson of Harold Macmillan), Marks swore off ever getting involved with hard drugs. Among his other friends at Balliol were the epidemiologist Julian Peto and the journalist Lynn Barber. Through a mixture of cheating and last minute cramming, he passed his finals; this was despite months of taking drugs rather than attending classes and a serious infection he developed a few weeks before the exams.

In 1967 he began teacher-training, and married Ilze Kadegis, a Latvian who was also training to become a teacher. He gave up teacher-training to continue his education at the University of London (1967–68; Grad. Inst P.), then back to Balliol, Oxford (1968–69; Dip. H.Ph. Sc.), and then on to the University of Sussex (1969–70) to study philosophy of science.