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William (Billy) Snow
Anit-Smoking Activist, Graffitist
Born	Died 8 March 2018 (aged 80) Sydney Australia
Died	Died 8 March 2018 (aged 80) Sutherland, Sydney, Australia
Occupation(s)	Printer, Graffitist
Spouse	Rosemarie Gosling (m. 1964; div. 1979)
Children	Emily Snow
Parent(s)	Lyall Snow and Alison Snow (nee Munro)

William Snow otherwise known as Bill or Billy Snow was an aniti-smoking activist, a co-founder of BUGA UP and contributor to the achievement of the banning of tobacco advertising and a smoke-free environment in Australia. In addition to his aniti-smoking activism, he was an avid campaigner against nuclear energy and destruction of the environment and strong supporter of Aboriginal Rights. Bill died of a ruptured aorta after a short painful episode on 8th March. He is survived by his daughter Emily and his sisters Dorothy and Joan.

Early Life

Bill was born on January 31, 1938, the youngest of Alison and Lyall Snow’s three children. He grew up with the family in Drummoyne and attended Fort Street High School where he won an award for debating and graduated with the leaving certificate. Billy began work as a printer’s mechanic and rebelled against his strict Salvation Army upbringing by immersing himself in the early Rock ’n’ Roll scene. After a period of national service he took off in the mid 1950s for a decade long adventure of sailing and backpacking around the world. He sailed through SE Asia and the Mediterranean and travelled the length of the Americas, working as a printer in Japan, London and San Francisco. He met Rosemarie Gosling in London in 1964; they set off to Europe together and married in Sydney in 1967. Their daughter Emily was born in 1972. After separating from his wife Bill moved to Bundeena, a village within Sydney’s Royal National Park, in 1979.

Printing

It was in Bundeena that Bill was awarded a contract to print testamurs for graduating students at the University of Sydney, for which he acquired a hand-operated letterpress printing machine <year, model>. This method was preferred because the letters were embossed into the paper. He did however refuse to print an honorary degree for the Chairman of Rothmans. Bill continued to print the testamurs until the technology was superseded by laser printing in the 1990s. <reference>

Advertising and Smoking

Bill Snow was one of Australia’s early environmental and fresh air campaigners. When a fellow anti-smoking campaigner, Brian McBride, sued a bus driver for assaulting him with tobacco smoke on a non-smoking bus, Bill came forward with Gayle Russell in support which led to the formation of the Non-Smokers Movement in 1978, later to become the Non Smokers Movement of Australia. <reference>

Frustrated at the lack of action on tobacco he began to write graffiti on tobacco billboards in 1977 , which were more than half the outdoor advertising at that time. In 1978 Simon Chapman (later Prof) and others concerned about tobacco advertising formed a group called MOP UP (Movement Opposed to Promotion of Unhealthy Products) but after the meeting Bill, Geoff Coleman and Ric Bolzan decided that direct action would be more effective using satire on billboards, linked by the simple words BUGA UP (Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions)<reference> . The idea was that anyone could see the concept, pick up a spray can and contribute to the war against tobacco promotion and disease. A blank billboard was found, the acronym was painted and publicised with a catalogue and leaflets (see bugaup.org), but the most powerful message was sprayed by many people on many billboards.

Bill had a van and painted ‘BUGA UP Rules OK’ on the front, and rainbows and dolphin motifs on the side to publicise his environmental causes. He drove around with spray cans and a bucket with paint bombs floating in it, just in case they were required. He probably re-faced more billboards than anyone else, with the possible exception of Fred Cole , but he was not one to rush a job. He could linger at a billboard for half an hour, using his printer’s eye to ensure his alterations were ‘perfect’. Needless to say, he was arrested on numerous occasions and spent time in gaol ‘on principle’ rather than pay a fine.

His anti-smoking actions took many forms, for example he collected cigarette butts from sacred sites and elsewhere, put them in large bottle with labels like ‘Collected at Ayers Rock=Uluru’ with information about how much damage they did to wildlife, and set up displays at fairs or schools to increase awareness and action on tobacco and environmental pollution. He was an engaging character, though not very tactful and sometimes plain cantankerous and would confront tobacco company salespeople and other representatives and then engage the driver about the error of their ways. His van was involved in a successful ‘BUGA UP Embassy’ picket outside Leo Burnett’s (tobacco) Advertising Agency in North Sydney in 1984. To get rid of the ‘Embassy’ the Police impounded the van and waited in vain for the registered owner,’ Philip Morris’, to claim it.

Pushing preventive action at all levels, he would visit Police stations with leaflets and explain to the somewhat startled officers that BUGA UP was to be active in their area and it would be appreciated if the health activists were just allowed to get on with the job. Despite this he was arrested and spent time in gaol for his billboard graffiti, as naturally he refused to pay the fine. But the fact that this happened made BUGA UP the most radical health promotion group in the world, which served to make all other anti-tobacco actions moderate, and re-frame the debate globally. Australia was the first major country to ban tobacco advertising and the loss of legitimacy by the tobacco industry had huge implications for tobacco and health policy in Australia and worldwide.

Political Activism

In addition to his BUGA UP activities, Bill was an avid campaigner against nuclear energy and destruction of the environment. He put his sailing skills to good use in seaborne protests against nuclear powered warships from the United States sailing into Sydney Harbour.<reference>

He was a great believer in community action and was a founder and supporter of the Bundagen Community on the mid North Coast, as well as his beloved Bundeena. Bill also spent much time with Indigenous Australians, accommodating Aboriginal people in his home and visiting their communities. He funded a trip to England with Burnum Burnum in 1988, Australia’s Bicentennial Year, when Burnum Burnum planted the Aboriginal flag on the white cliffs of Dover and claimed Britain for the Aboriginal people, as the British had done to the Aboriginal people here.<reference>

Filmography

• Billboard Bandits A short History of B.U.G.A. U.P. by Kathyn Milliss

See also

• Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions
• Lord Bloody Wog Rolo

External links

• Official website

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