What do you think?
Rate this book
Recollections of a RacketeerSmuggling Hash and Cash Around the World
Patrick Lane's obsession with drugs began in his early teens. Nineteenth-century French literature introduced him to a world of hashish, opium and absinthe, which he saw as a way of escaping his boring suburban English existence. Unable to find any hashish as a schoolboy in north London, he went to Morocco for supplies. Between school and university, he hitched around America in the mid-1960s, taking LSD with Timothy Leary. After teaming up with Howard Marks, they smuggled suitcases of hashish out of Afghanistan and Pakistan into Europe and VW campers filled with hashish from Lebanon into California.
During the course of his extraordinary career, he witnessed revolution in Afghanistan, an unsuccessful coup in Greece, the preservation of the monarchy in Nepal and illicit arms deals with Saddam Hussein. Along the way, he befriended Wall Street bankers, Mafia dons (and Oxford dons), hashish-eating goats, dissolute English lords and French peasants.
Recollections of a Racketeer is a rollicking and at times hilarious tale of a life lived on the wrong side of the law.
During the course of his extraordinary career, he witnessed revolution in Afghanistan, an unsuccessful coup in Greece, the preservation of the monarchy in Nepal and illicit arms deals with Saddam Hussein. Along the way, he befriended Wall Street bankers, Mafia dons (and Oxford dons), hashish-eating goats, dissolute English lords and French peasants.
Recollections of a Racketeer is a rollicking and at times hilarious tale of a life lived on the wrong side of the law.
318 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2009
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Lane
85 books39 followersPatrick Lane was born in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, on March 26, 1939. He has no formal education beyond high school in Vernon, B.C. From 1957 to 1968 with his young wife, Mary, he raised three children, Mark, Christopher, and Kathryn, and began working at a variety of jobs, from common labourer, truck driver, Cat skinner, chokerman, boxcar loader, Industrial First-Aid Man in the northern bush, to clerk at a number of sawmills in the Interior of British Columbia. He has been a salesman, office manager, and an Industrial Accountant. In 1968 his first wife divorced him. Much of his life after 1968 has been spent as an itinerant poet, wandering over three continents and many countries. He began writing with serious intent in 1960, practicing his craft late at night in small-town western Canada until he moved to Vancouver in early 1965 to work and to join the new generation of artists and writers who were coming of age in the early Sixties.
In 1966, with bill bissett and Seymour Mayne, he established Very Stone House, publishing the new post-war generation of poets. In 1968, he decided to devote his life exclusively to writing, travelling to South America where he lived for two years. On his return, he established a new relationship with his second wife, Carol, had two more children, Michael and Richard, and settled first in the Okanagan Valley in 1972 and then in 1974 on the west coast of Canada at Middle Point near the fishing village of Pender Harbour on The Sunshine Coast where he worked as a carpenter and building contractor. In 1978, he divorced and went to work as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg where he began his life with the poet, Lorna Crozier. Since then, he has been a resident writer at Concordia University in Montreal, The University of Alberta in Edmonton, the Saskatoon Public Library, and the University of Toronto. He taught English Literature at The University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon from 1986 to 1990, and Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, British Columbia from 1991 to 2004. He is presently retired from institutional teaching and leads private writing retreats as well as teaching at such schools as The Banff Writing Workshops, ‘Booming Ground’ at the University of British Columbia, The Victoria Writing School, and The Sage Hill Experience in Saskatchewan. He and his wife, Lorna Crozier, presently reside in a small community outside Victoria where he gardens and works at his craft.
His poetry, short stories, criticism, and non-fiction have won many prizes over the past forty-five years, including The Governor-General’s Award for “Poems: New & Selected” in 1979, The Canadian Authors Association Award for his “Selected Poems” in 1988, and, in 1987, a “Nellie” award (Canada) and The National Radio Award (USA) for the best public radio program for the script titled “Chile,” co-authored with Lorna Crozier. He has received major awards from The Canada Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The Saskatchewan Arts Board, The Manitoba Arts Board, The Ontario Arts Council, and the British Columbia Arts Board. He has received National Magazine awards for both his poetry and his fiction. He is the author of more than twenty books and he has been called by many writers and critics “the best poet of his generation.”
As a critic and commentator, he appears regularly on CBC, the national radio service in Canada, and on numerous other media outlets across Canada.
He has appeared at literary festivals around the world and has read and published his work in many countries including England, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, China, Japan, Chile, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Russia. His poetry and fiction appear in all major Canadian anthologies of English literature. A critical monograph of his life and writing titled "Patrick Lane,” by George Woodcock, was published by ECW Press.
In 1966, with bill bissett and Seymour Mayne, he established Very Stone House, publishing the new post-war generation of poets. In 1968, he decided to devote his life exclusively to writing, travelling to South America where he lived for two years. On his return, he established a new relationship with his second wife, Carol, had two more children, Michael and Richard, and settled first in the Okanagan Valley in 1972 and then in 1974 on the west coast of Canada at Middle Point near the fishing village of Pender Harbour on The Sunshine Coast where he worked as a carpenter and building contractor. In 1978, he divorced and went to work as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg where he began his life with the poet, Lorna Crozier. Since then, he has been a resident writer at Concordia University in Montreal, The University of Alberta in Edmonton, the Saskatoon Public Library, and the University of Toronto. He taught English Literature at The University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon from 1986 to 1990, and Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, British Columbia from 1991 to 2004. He is presently retired from institutional teaching and leads private writing retreats as well as teaching at such schools as The Banff Writing Workshops, ‘Booming Ground’ at the University of British Columbia, The Victoria Writing School, and The Sage Hill Experience in Saskatchewan. He and his wife, Lorna Crozier, presently reside in a small community outside Victoria where he gardens and works at his craft.
His poetry, short stories, criticism, and non-fiction have won many prizes over the past forty-five years, including The Governor-General’s Award for “Poems: New & Selected” in 1979, The Canadian Authors Association Award for his “Selected Poems” in 1988, and, in 1987, a “Nellie” award (Canada) and The National Radio Award (USA) for the best public radio program for the script titled “Chile,” co-authored with Lorna Crozier. He has received major awards from The Canada Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The Saskatchewan Arts Board, The Manitoba Arts Board, The Ontario Arts Council, and the British Columbia Arts Board. He has received National Magazine awards for both his poetry and his fiction. He is the author of more than twenty books and he has been called by many writers and critics “the best poet of his generation.”
As a critic and commentator, he appears regularly on CBC, the national radio service in Canada, and on numerous other media outlets across Canada.
He has appeared at literary festivals around the world and has read and published his work in many countries including England, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, China, Japan, Chile, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Russia. His poetry and fiction appear in all major Canadian anthologies of English literature. A critical monograph of his life and writing titled "Patrick Lane,” by George Woodcock, was published by ECW Press.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2014
Recollections of a Racketeer landed on my "to read" pile thanks to Marcus Scriven, (who I see is mentioned in the acknowledgements section). As a gifted writer, I take Scriven's recommendations seriously and having read Recollections, I see why he encouraged the author - who became Howard Mark's brother-in-law and "partner" - to share his experiences with us. The worlds of hash smuggling and money laundering are alien to me but the book opens a door and I'm pleased I stepped inside. If good writing is about broadening horizons, challenging mindsets and vicariously sharing experiences then Recollections scores highly in all three areas.
It's also well written and amusing: I loved the way the ex-US marines, who were hired as muscle, were easily persuaded (courtesy of the Bronx-Gorbals language barrier) that they were in Norway when in fact they were in Scotland. Hilarious! The book's also honest and sympathetic (the author explains his deep respect for the police) while avoiding the twin traps of self-justification and sentimentality. For reasons elegantly presented, Lane was drawn to a lifestyle that mixed excitement with rebellion and you can understand why. We've never met but I soon found myself liking him.
Recollections describes a very different world. A sort of half-way house between Robin Hood and CSI and it's a charming world for that. It's full of clever psychological insights too, like allowing the custom's official a minor victory and he'll be so pleased he won't go through your luggage... and other gems that have relevance for all of us.
A thoughtful, excellent read - I recommend it.
It's also well written and amusing: I loved the way the ex-US marines, who were hired as muscle, were easily persuaded (courtesy of the Bronx-Gorbals language barrier) that they were in Norway when in fact they were in Scotland. Hilarious! The book's also honest and sympathetic (the author explains his deep respect for the police) while avoiding the twin traps of self-justification and sentimentality. For reasons elegantly presented, Lane was drawn to a lifestyle that mixed excitement with rebellion and you can understand why. We've never met but I soon found myself liking him.
Recollections describes a very different world. A sort of half-way house between Robin Hood and CSI and it's a charming world for that. It's full of clever psychological insights too, like allowing the custom's official a minor victory and he'll be so pleased he won't go through your luggage... and other gems that have relevance for all of us.
A thoughtful, excellent read - I recommend it.
October 16, 2017
I personally found it quite heavy going, a bit self-indulgent and rambly. The first half in particular jumps all over the place with no discernible rhythm and can get quite repetitive. The structure definitely improved towards the end of the book but by then it was sadly too late for me. On the other hand, I wasn't expecting it to be as 'memoiry' as it was, so that probably had a big impact on how I approached it.
September 3, 2024
Fantastic read of an era bygone.
December 20, 2012
I wanted a change of direction and decided on an easy read. Easy reads can always be found with gangsters and their biographies. Patrick Lane, the autobiographer here, was a hash smuggler and a money launderer operating in the late 1960's to early 1980's. He was closely alligned and worked with Howard Marks. Anyone who read or watch the film of Howard Marks, Mr Nice, will know that if there is such a thing as victimless crime, he got as close as he could to it. The gang would only deal in marijuana, nothing harder. This is not easy grass for hash is big and bulky, compared to powdered drugs. There is little opportunity to cut it, as opposed to powders. Furthermore, even on one occasion when they were robbed of a large quantity of hash, the gang avoided violence.
It seems the gang of smugglers were adventurers, more interested in the hobby of inventing elaborate ways to get the ganga in the UK or anywhere than the money it provided. Examples of smuggling operations were, telling a Scottish village on a loch they were filming a movie to cover for a boat coming in laden with hippies delight. Lights and cameras were used as props. Other occasions, rock stars were inadvertantly used (or maybe the Rolling Stones just turned a blind eye) with hash blocks smuggled inside sound systems.
Also I was constantly finding myself with a smile reading of his travel exploits. Finding himself in places like Greece at the time of the failed military coup. Afghanistan when it was still about hippies and dancing naked virgins, and not bearded men firing AK47s with their breakfast.
Patrick also doesn't seem to glamourise his life, he says that while he was surrounded by money all the time he often had little assets. He lived for 2 decades as an illegal immigrant or a fugitive. With that status, there are no rights as an individual. He speaks of the reality of money laundering. Carrying a suitcase full of notes is difficult enough, but to detract suspicion this must be done as if the contents are only feathers. He also speaks about the regrets. His loss of contact with his father. The pain and instability he put on his family. He doesn't try to justify, but just tells his story. A 60 year old when he wrote it, I think he was trying to come to terms with his life. He also concedes that drugs today, even hash is not the same as back 'in the day'. As with meat and vegetables we consume, grass is grown under intensive farming techniques, artificially heightening the strength and meaning that todays grass smoking is more harmful. Which makes me think, won't it be a matter of time before Monsanto realises this and lobbies Congress.
It seems the gang of smugglers were adventurers, more interested in the hobby of inventing elaborate ways to get the ganga in the UK or anywhere than the money it provided. Examples of smuggling operations were, telling a Scottish village on a loch they were filming a movie to cover for a boat coming in laden with hippies delight. Lights and cameras were used as props. Other occasions, rock stars were inadvertantly used (or maybe the Rolling Stones just turned a blind eye) with hash blocks smuggled inside sound systems.
Also I was constantly finding myself with a smile reading of his travel exploits. Finding himself in places like Greece at the time of the failed military coup. Afghanistan when it was still about hippies and dancing naked virgins, and not bearded men firing AK47s with their breakfast.
Patrick also doesn't seem to glamourise his life, he says that while he was surrounded by money all the time he often had little assets. He lived for 2 decades as an illegal immigrant or a fugitive. With that status, there are no rights as an individual. He speaks of the reality of money laundering. Carrying a suitcase full of notes is difficult enough, but to detract suspicion this must be done as if the contents are only feathers. He also speaks about the regrets. His loss of contact with his father. The pain and instability he put on his family. He doesn't try to justify, but just tells his story. A 60 year old when he wrote it, I think he was trying to come to terms with his life. He also concedes that drugs today, even hash is not the same as back 'in the day'. As with meat and vegetables we consume, grass is grown under intensive farming techniques, artificially heightening the strength and meaning that todays grass smoking is more harmful. Which makes me think, won't it be a matter of time before Monsanto realises this and lobbies Congress.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews