A publishing legend and famed entrepreneur, Felix Dennis, sadly passed away on the 22nd June at his home in Dorsington after a“long and painful battle with cancer” . We face a departure of a man of many talents and a great source of creative initiatives he had been taking throughout his life. He will be sorely missed, but remembered for countless notable deeds and achievements.
Parting ways with OZ magazine, however, was not the end of his adventure with publishing, but only a beginning. In 1973 Dennis went on to fund his own magazine publishing company. Who would have thought that after recent controversies it was actually possible, nevertheless, his publishing enterprise proved successful in the UK and even got recognition on US market. Dennis Publishing currently holds over 50 magazine titles, digital magazines and websites in the UK and is associated with some big brands such as: The Week, Auto Express, PC Pro, CarBuyer and Maxim.
In the late 1990s Dennis got involved in actively supporting British forestry. First passionately planting trees, he moved on to set up The Heart of England Forest Limited charity, dedicated to planting a substantial native broadleaf forest in Warwickshire. He was continuously making donations to said charity throughout his life, to help to expand and preserve the woodlands. The motto he was living up to was: “Whosoever plants a tree / Winks at immortality”.
In the meantime, he saved the cause of the book printer Butler & Tanner being at risk of liquidation in 2008. Re-launched as Butler, Tanner & Dennis it thrived once again, but sadly recently went in administration, on 23rd May 2014.
After Felix Dennis was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2012, he kept on compiling poetry books which resulted in Love of a Kind (2013), written under the illusion of sentence of rapid death, Do What The F**k I say (2013) with a hint of refreshing humour and the last one, This Is The Way Of The World which was out shortly before his death.
He lived his life to its extremes and it was rich and marked with many remarkable accomplishments. Open-minded and relaxed to the very end, he said about himself: "I've lived an unbelievable life, even if I did do my best to kill myself". [The Guardian]