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"There are a few obscure theories as to how I got my nickname, some reckon it is from an old cartoon, some say it is
because I use to cut off the toes of others, while there are those that say it is because I had someone cut my ears off in
jail.
For the record, it is from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon "Yakky Doodle".
Chopper was the big dog who looked after
Yakky the little duck. Every time the fox tried to attack the duck, the big dog Chopper would tell Yakky "Now Yakky, you put
your little wings over your eyes. Don't you look at what I'm gonna do to this fox" and then Chopper would bash the shit out
of the fox.
Well I used to go to school with a little kid called Laurie Whitaker and they used to call him Yakky, so
naturally they called me Chopper. So my old man called me little Chopper or "Chop Chop" from when I was in grade 3. Wherever
I went, he'd say "Come on Chop Chop".
And the name fit well with my later career.
Imagine if the dog had been called
Fluffy".
As said by Chopper Read.
When Chopper was 15, his mother had him put into
Royal Park mental hospital. She felt that he was disturbed because he was no longer a Seventh-Day Adventist
1979
When Chopper had his stomach slit by convicted murderer, Greg "Bluey" Brazel during a prison brawl in 1979. The next day Chopper
burst his stiches doing push ups to get fit enough for a revenge attack on Brazel. To this day he cannot believe that he did
all those push-ups.
Chopper says: "The stomach didn't hurt, but the arms ached like hell".
1987
shooting of the drug dealer, Siam "Sammy the Turk" Ozerkam, outside Bojangles Nightclub in St Kilda, Melbourne, is an out
and out winner. It was as big a hit as the movie about Chopper, which would come out 13 years later. As he said in his books,
it was quite a simple series of events "....He pulled the shotty out and gone bang and it's bye, bye Turk." It was far from
a case of cold-blooded murder, instead it was an act of
instinctive self-defence
1990,
It was when he was in jail, that Chopper made his first steps towards being an author
12 Books Later isnt too bad either!
1995 on 22 May he married Mary Ann Hoge after a 2 ½ yr courtship
They have a child together,
a boy, who they called Charlie, named after Chopper's long time and now deceased mate 'Mad' Charlie Hegyalji. Their marriage
went great guns but only for a while
1991 In July , Melbourne underworld
figure, Alphonse Gangitano left Australia just as Mark' Chopper' Read was released from jail.
He had apparently put out
a $30,000 contract to kill Read. This came after the now famous criminal had refused to ensure Gangitano's safety upon his
impending release from Pentridge.
Read once appeared at Gangitano's home in Carlton to demand cash from a robbery.
Chopper
was apparently armed with gelignite and a fearful Gangitano escaped through a rear exit.
1998
Read was released in 1998 after his dangerous criminal tag was overturned on appeal and the pair moved to a farmhouse at Richmond,
Tasmania.
2001 Sunday 24 June - Chopper Drink-Drive Advertisement Wins Gold at Cannes"
He
Quotes as he points to his Body -"When I was in prison I got slashed down the face, my ears cut off, I had a claw hammer put
through my brain just here, cut throat razors here and here, butchers knife there, icepick there, ice pick up the back there.
. ." He then goes to say if you hit some one while drink driving, you better pray you dont go to pirson.
2001--
His Marrige to Mary Ann broke up. Life in Tasmania was just too slow. He couldn't handle watching chickens and sheep running
around day after day. Farming life wasn't for Chopper, so he left with just the clothes on his back and enough money to get
out of Tasmania. Chopper returned to Melbourne, There he worked behind a local bar part-time.
2002
In April , Read came out in the Herald Sun and disowned the movie. He said that it was 'pure fiction' and that he wants nothing
to do with the film. "They used all my jokes and they didn't even invite me to the opening," Read complained.
2002
In May , Read caused a stir with the release of his latest publication, the children's picture book, 'Hooky the Cripple".
Set in the 16th Century, 'Hooky' is about a hunchbacked son of a prostitute who stabs a bullying butcher in the head 21
times, eventually going to trial for murder
2003 on January 19 Chopper married Margaret Casser. He has known Margaret for 30 years. Anybody
else out there that has married someone after they have known them for 30 odd years, please don't tell him now that it doesn't
work.
Chopper has been convicted of armed robberies, a shooting, assault and kidnapping a judge. Between the ages
of 20 and 38, He had a measily 13 months on the outside. This was His equivalent to the annual leave that most people get
through work.
Chopper's portrait have been entered into the Archibald Prize 4 years running.
Read has made public comment about a number of criminal cases, including the Ivan Milat backpacker murder and the Port Arthur massacre. He has frequently appeared on radio and television talk shows to promote his books and discuss his views on many issues.
For a short period of time, he also had a column in Ralph magazine. He also was a regular columnist for the British magazine FHM. He has had a column in Ralph and FHM's sister magazine Zoo Weekly. His success in selling tales of his criminal past, and a number of recent attempts by other criminals to do likewise,
has prompted widespread calls to amend the Federal Proceeds of Crime Bill (2001)—which confiscates the proceeds of drug
deals and robberies—to also apply to indirect proceeds of crime, including book sales, TV appearances, and the like.
Read has described his political beliefs as "to the right of Genghis Khan". In his book Chopper 2, he lists American conservative G. Gordon Liddy and Bruce Ruxton, a critic of Australia's immigration policies and leader of the Victorian RSL, as his political heroes.
This email address if from Chopper's Website.
He has replied before but be Patient
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