Muhammad Ali

Publisher and poet Felix Dennis was one of Britain's most colourful maverick millionaires. Imprisoned in 1971 as co-editor of OZ magazine and acquitted on appeal, he founded his own magazine publishing company in 1973 and made millions with the sale of Personal Computer World and MacUser in the mid-eighties. Today, Dennis Publishing remains a privately owned company with headquarters in London and New York City. Titles include The Week, Auto Express, Maxim, Men's Fitness and Computer Shopper. Following a life-threatening illness, his first collection of poetry, A Glass Half Full was published by Hutchinson and the second, Lone Wolf, in 2004. Eight more collections followed, accompanied by sell-out reading tours on both sides of the Atlantic. The Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection is awarded yearly, as part of the Forward Prizes for Poetry. As a lover of trees, his lifetime ambition was the planting of a large native broadleaf forest in Warwickshire. He had homes in England, the USA, St Vincent and the Grenadines and died of cancer in June 2014 at his home in Warwickshire.

Felix Dennis was imprisoned in 1971 as co-editor of OZ magazine. After his acquittal on appeal, he founded his own magazine publishing company in 1973 and made millions with the sale of Personal Computer World and MacUser in the mid-eighties. Today, Dennis Publishing remains a privately owned company with headquarters in London and New York City. Titles include The Week, Auto Express, Computer Shopper and Maxim. The annual Sunday Times Rich List estimates that Felix Dennis is the 65th richest individual in the UK. Following a life-threatening illness, his first collection of poetry, A Glass Half Full was published by Hutchinson and the second, Lone Wolf, in 2004. His third collection, When Jack Sued Jill, was published by Ebury Press in November 2006. His other interests include planting trees and he divides his time between homes in Warwickshire, London, New York, Connecticut and the Caribbean island of Mustique.