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Who Was Hurricane Higgins?
Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins transcended sport in a way very few sportsmen ever have. In this definitive biography, Tony Francis describes how Alex threw himself into life like a man throwing himself off a cliff. No safety net. No plan. No fear. No shame.
Francis interviews more than sixty witnesses to this extraordinary life and comes up with a remarkable series of adventures to surprise even Alex's staunchest fans. We hear from his ex-wife Lynn who tolerated him for ten years, helped him recover from a suicide attempt, watched him trash the house, but still has a fondness for the father of her kids. Snooker champion Jimmy White, Alex's best friend, 'I loved him, I hated him, I loved him, I hated him!'
The author investigates the Irish drink culture which undermined his family, colleagues and, of course Higgins himself. How did Higgins' fellow Irish sportsman and biggest fan, Barry McGuigan, escape the excesses which dragged Higgins and George Best into the gutter? Did drink account for Higgins' wild outbursts or was there something more to it? Why did his lost love describe the man who once head-butted a tournament official as 'the gentlest man I ever met'?
For all his faults, Higgins was, for a time, the most loved sportsman in Britain. He remains a legend and the most outstanding, charismatic snooker player who ever walked into an arena. Francis traces his crazy life from the time when as a baby he was kept in a shoe box in his mother's top drawer, to the sheltered accommodation in Sandy Row, Belfast where died.
If you want to know what kind of man could mesmerise and terrorise his way to the top; be acclaimed by millions one moment and literally thrown out of a pub the next; die in pitiful isolation yet be celebrated by thousands lining the streets in what amounted to a state funeral, then Who Was Hurricane Higgins? is a must-read.
Francis interviews more than sixty witnesses to this extraordinary life and comes up with a remarkable series of adventures to surprise even Alex's staunchest fans. We hear from his ex-wife Lynn who tolerated him for ten years, helped him recover from a suicide attempt, watched him trash the house, but still has a fondness for the father of her kids. Snooker champion Jimmy White, Alex's best friend, 'I loved him, I hated him, I loved him, I hated him!'
The author investigates the Irish drink culture which undermined his family, colleagues and, of course Higgins himself. How did Higgins' fellow Irish sportsman and biggest fan, Barry McGuigan, escape the excesses which dragged Higgins and George Best into the gutter? Did drink account for Higgins' wild outbursts or was there something more to it? Why did his lost love describe the man who once head-butted a tournament official as 'the gentlest man I ever met'?
For all his faults, Higgins was, for a time, the most loved sportsman in Britain. He remains a legend and the most outstanding, charismatic snooker player who ever walked into an arena. Francis traces his crazy life from the time when as a baby he was kept in a shoe box in his mother's top drawer, to the sheltered accommodation in Sandy Row, Belfast where died.
If you want to know what kind of man could mesmerise and terrorise his way to the top; be acclaimed by millions one moment and literally thrown out of a pub the next; die in pitiful isolation yet be celebrated by thousands lining the streets in what amounted to a state funeral, then Who Was Hurricane Higgins? is a must-read.
384 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2014
Great read. A very insightful account about this enigmatic but troubled man from all those who knew him. His drunken capers with Oliver Reed were crazy. Couldn't put it down.
February 1, 2015
Excellent book. Details the rollercoaster life of one of snooker's all-time greats. I was shocked by the errors throughout the book, though.
March 23, 2017
Another story of an Irish Sports Superstar who wasted his life while reaching the highest highs and the lowest lows.
It's a sad story of a man who changed the way a sport was played, brought in a whole bucketful of new fans and money and gambled it all away.
A man with many faults, but one magnificent mercurial talent for playing snooker.
I was a fan of Alex he made Snooker exciting. His end was long and very sad, but frankly he brought it upon himself. I suspect he needed help with his mental condition but you cannot force anybody to look at themselves in a mirror and see what we all see. His talent made him, his arrogance, his ego and his addiction to gambling destroyed him.
It's a sad story of a man who changed the way a sport was played, brought in a whole bucketful of new fans and money and gambled it all away.
A man with many faults, but one magnificent mercurial talent for playing snooker.
I was a fan of Alex he made Snooker exciting. His end was long and very sad, but frankly he brought it upon himself. I suspect he needed help with his mental condition but you cannot force anybody to look at themselves in a mirror and see what we all see. His talent made him, his arrogance, his ego and his addiction to gambling destroyed him.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews