My message for you today
Give being bitter. It’s pointless and so is refusing to forgive. Bitterness is a slow, slow poison. Give up letting expectations rule your life and realize that even the best life is full of worries and disappointments.
“Man can will nothing unless he has
first understood that he must count on no one but himself; that he is alone,
abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help,
with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the
one he forges for himself on this earth.” Jean-Paul
Sartre
The art and joy of cinematography
Everest (2015)
I have not failed. I’ve just found
10,000 ways that won’t work. Thomas A.
Edison
A failure is not always a mistake, it
may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is
to stop trying B.F. Skinner
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
John
William Tuohy is a writer who lives in Washington DC. He holds an MFA in
writing from Lindenwood University.
He is
the author of No Time to Say Goodbye: Memoirs of a Life in Foster Care and
Short Stories from a Small Town. He is also the author of numerous non-fiction
on the history of organized crime including the ground break biography of
bootlegger Roger Tuohy "When Capone's Mob Murdered Touhy" and
"Guns and Glamour: A History of Organized Crime in Chicago."
His
non-fiction crime short stories have appeared in The New Criminologist,
American Mafia and other publications. John won the City of Chicago's Celtic
Playfest for his work The Hannigan's of Beverly, and his short story fiction
work, Karma Finds Franny Glass, appeared in AdmitTwo Magazine in October of
2008.
His
play, Cyberdate.Com, was chosen for a public performance at the Actors Chapel
in Manhattan in February of 2007 as part of the groups Reading Series for New
York project. In June of 2008, the play won the Virginia Theater of The First
Amendment Award for best new play.
Contact
John:
MYWRITERSSITE.BLOGSPOT.COM
JWTUOHY95@GMAIL.COM
In
1962, six year old John Tuohy, his two brothers and two sisters entered
Connecticut’s foster care system and were promptly split apart. Over the next
ten years, John would live in more than ten foster homes, group homes and state
schools, from his native Waterbury to Ansonia, New Haven, West Haven, Deep
River and Hartford. In the end, a decade later, the state returned him to the
same home and the same parents they had taken him from. As tragic as is funny
compelling story will make you cry and laugh as you journey with this child to
overcome the obstacles of the foster care system and find his dreams.
http://www.amazon.com/No-Time-Say-Goodbye-Memoir/dp/0692361294/
http://amemoirofalifeinfostercare.blogspot.com/
http://www.amazon.com/No-Time-Say-Goodbye-Memoir/dp/
By
Dr. Wm. Anthony Connolly
This incredible memoir, No Time
to Say Goodbye, tells of entertaining angels, dancing with devils, and of the
abandoned children many viewed simply as raining manna from some lesser god.
The young and unfortunate lives
of the Tuohy bruins—sometimes Irish, sometimes Jewish, often Catholic,
rambunctious, but all imbued with Lion’s hearts—told here with brutal honesty
leavened with humor and laudable introspective forgiveness. The memoir will
have you falling to your knees thanking that benevolent Irish cop in the sky,
your lucky stars, or hugging the oxygen out of your own kids the fate foisted
upon Johnny and his siblings does not and did not befall your own brood. John
William Tuohy, a nationally-recognized authority on organized crime and Irish
levity, is your trusted guide through the weeds the decades of neglect ensnared
he and his brothers and sisters, all suffering for the impersonal and often
mercenary taint of the foster care system. Theirs, and Tuohy’s, story is not at
all figures of speech as this review might suggest, but all too real and all
too sad, and maddening. I wanted to scream. I wanted to get into a time
machine, go back and adopt every last one of them. I was angry. I was
captivated. The requisite damning verities of foster care are all here,
regretfully, but what sets this story above others is its beating heart, even a
bruised and broken one, still willing to forgive and understand, and continue
to aid its walking wounded. I cannot recommend this book enough.
AMAZON REVIEWS
By
jackieh on October 13, 2015
After reading about John's deeply
personal and painful past, I just wanted to hug the child within him......and
hug all the children who were thrown into the state's foster system....it is an
amazing read.......
By
Jane Pogoda on October 9, 2015
I truly enjoyed reading his
memoir. I also grew up in Ansonia and had no idea conditions such as these
existed. The saving grace is knowing the author made it out and survived the
system. Just knowing he was able to have a family of his own made me happy. I
attended the same grammar school and was happy that his experience there was
not negative. I had a wonderful experience in that school. I wish that I could
have been there for him when he was at the school since we were there at
probably at the same time.
By
Sue on September 27, 2015
Hi - just finished your novel
"No time to say goodbye" - what a powerful read!!! - I bought it for
my 90 year old mom who is an avid reader and lived in the valley all her
life-she loved it also along with my sister- we are all born and raised in the
valley- i.e. Derby and Ansonia
By
David A. Wright on September 7, 2015
I enjoyed this book. I grew up in
Ansonia CT and went to the Assumption School. Also reconized all the places he
was talking about and some of the families.
By
Robert G Manley on September 7, 2015
This is a wonderfully written
book. It is heart wrenchingly sad at times and the next minute hilariously
funny. I attribute that to the intelligence and wit of the author who combines
the humor and pathos of his Irish catholic background and horrendous
"foster kid" experience. He captures each character perfectly and the
reader can easily visualize the individuals the author has to deal with on
daily basis. Having lived part of my life in the parochial school system and
having lived as a child in the same neighborhood as the author, I was vividly
brought back to my childhood .Most importantly, it shows the strength of the
soul and how just a little compassion can be so important to a lost child.
By
LNA on July 9, 2015
John Tuohy writes with compelling
honesty, and warmth. I grew up in Ansonia, CT myself, so it makes it even more
real. He brings me immediately back there with his narrative, while he wounds
my soul, as I realize I had no idea of the suffering of some of the children
around me. His story is a must read, of courage and great spirit in the face of
impoverishment, sorrow, and adult neglect. I could go on and on, but just get
the book. If you're like me, you'll soon be reading it out loud to any person
in the room who will listen. Many can suffer and overcome as they go through
it, but few can find the words that take us through the story. John is a gifted
writer to be able to do that.
By
Barbara Pietruszka on June 29, 2015
I am from Connecticut so I was
very familiar with many locations described in the book especially Ansonia
where I lived. I totally enjoyed the book and would like to know more about the
author. I recommend the book to everyone
By
Joanne B. on June 28, 2015
What an emotional rollercoaster.
I laughed. I cried. Once you start reading it's hard to stop. I was torn
between wanting to gulp it up and read over and over each quote that started
the chapter. I couldn't help but feel part of the Tuohy clan. I wanted to
scream in their defense. It's truly hard to believe the challenges that foster
children face. I can only pray that this story may touch even one person facing
this life. It's an inspiring read. That will linger long after you finish it.
This is a wonderfully written memoir that immediately pulls you in to the lives
of the Tuohy family.
By
Paul Day on June 15, 2015
Great reading. Life in foster
care told from a very rare point of view.
By
Jackie Malkes on June 5, 2015
This book is definitely a must
for social workers working with children specifically. This is an excellent
memoir which identifies the trails of foster children in the 1960s in the
United States. The memoir captures stories of joy as well as nail biting
terror, as the family is at times torn apart but finds each other later and
finds solace in the experiences of one another. The stories capture the love siblings
have for one another as well as the protection they have for one another in
even the worst of circumstances. On the flip side, one of the most touching
stories to me was when a Nun at the school helped him to read-- truly an
example of how a positive person really helped to shape the author in times
when circumstances at home were challenging and treacherous. I found the book
to be a page turner and at times show how even in the hardest of circumstances
there was a need to live and survive and make the best of any moment. The
memoir is eye-opening and helped to shed light and make me feel proud of the
volunteer work I take part in with disadvantaged children. Riveting....Must
read....memory lane on steroids....Catholic school banter, blue color towns...Lawrence
Welk on Sundays night's.
By
Eileen on June 4, 2015
From ' No time to say Goodbye
'and authors John W. Touhys Gangster novels, his style never waivers...humorous
to sadness to candidly realistic situations all his writings leaves the reader
in awe......longing for more.
By
karen pojakene on June 1, 2015
This book is a must-read for
anyone who administers to the foster care program in any state. This is not a
"fell through the cracks" life story, but rather a memoir of a life
guided by strength and faith and a hard determination to survive. it is
heartening to know that the "sewer" that life can become to steal our
personal peace can be fought and our peace can be restored, scarred, but
restored.
By
Michelle Black on
A captivating, shocking, and deeply
moving memoir, No Time to Say Goodbye is a true page turner. John shares the
story of his childhood, from the struggles of living in poverty to being in the
foster care system and simply trying to survive. You will be cheering for him
all the way, as he never loses his will to thrive even in the darkest and
bleakest of circumstances. This memoir is a very truthful and unapologetic
glimpse into the way in which some of our most vulnerable citizens have been
treated in the past and are still being treated today. It is truly eye-opening,
and hopefully will inspire many people to take action in protection of
vulnerable children.
By
Kimberly on May 24, 2015
I found myself in tears while
reading this book. John William Tuohy writes quite movingly about the world he
grew up in; a world in which I had hoped did not exist within the foster care
system. This book is at times funny, raw, compelling, heartbreaking and
disturbing. I found myself rooting for John as he tries to escape from an
incredibly difficult life. You will too!
By
Geoffrey A. Childs on May 20, 2015
I found this book to be a
compelling story of life in the Ct foster care system. at times disturbing and
at others inspirational ,The author goes into great detail in this gritty
memoir of His early life being abandoned into the states system and his
subsequent escape from it. Every once in a while a book or even an article in a
newspaper comes along that bears witness to an injustice or even something
that's just plain wrong. This chronicle of the foster care system is such a
book and should be required reading for any aspiring social workers.
HERE'S MY LATEST BOOKS.....
This is a
book of short stories taken from the things I saw and heard in my childhood in
the factory town of Ansonia in southwestern Connecticut.
Most of
these stories, or as true as I recall them because I witnessed these events
many years ago through the eyes of child and are retold to you now with the pen
and hindsight of an older man. The only exception is the story Beat Time which is based on the
disappearance of Beat poet Lew Welch. Decades before I knew who Welch was, I
was told that he had made his from California to New Haven, Connecticut, where
was an alcoholic living in a mission. The notion fascinated me and I filed it
away but never forgot it.
The
collected stories are loosely modeled around Joyce’s novel, Dubliners (I also borrowed from the
novels character and place names. Ivy Day, my character in “Local Orphan is
Hero” is also the name of chapter in Dubliners,
etc.) and like Joyce I wanted to write about my people, the people I knew as a
child, the working class in small town America and I wanted to give a complete
view of them as well. As a result the stories are about the divorced, Gays,
black people, the working poor, the middle class, the lost and the found, the
contented and the discontented.
Conversely
many of the stories in this book are about starting life over again as a result
of suicide (The Hanging Party, Small Town
Tragedy, Beat Time) or from a near death experience (Anna Bell Lee and the Charge of the Light Brigade, A Brief Summer)
and natural occurring death. (The Best
Laid Plans, The Winter Years, Balanced and Serene)
With the
exception of Jesus Loves Shaqunda, in
each story there is a rebirth from the death. (Shaqunda is reported as having
died of pneumonia in The Winter Years)
Sal, the
desperate and depressed divorcee in Things
Change, changes his life in Lunch
Hour when asks the waitress for a date and she accepts. (Which we learn in
Closing Time, the last story in the book) In The Arranged Time, Thisby is given the option of change and whether
she takes it or, we don’t know. The death of Greta’s husband in A Matter of Time has led her to the diner
and into the waiting arms of the outgoing and loveable Gabe.
Although
the book is based on three sets of time (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and the
diner is opened in the early morning and closed at night, time stands still
inside the Diner. The hour on the big clock on the wall never changes time and
much like my memories of that place, everything remains the same.
http://www.amazon.com/Short-Stories-Small-William-Tuohy/dp/1517270456/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444164878&sr=1-1&keywords=short+stories+from+a+small+town
The Valley
Lives
By Marion Marchetto, author of The
Bridgewater Chronicles on October 15, 2015
Short
Stores from a Small Town is set in The Valley (known to outsiders as The Lower
Naugatuck Valley) in Connecticut. While the short stories are contemporary they
provide insight into the timeless qualities of an Industrial Era community and
the values and morals of the people who live there. Some are first or second
generation Americans, some are transplants, yet each takes on the mantle of
Valleyite and wears it proudly. It isn't easy for an author to take the reader
on a journey down memory lane and involve the reader in the life stories of a
group of seemingly unrelated characters. I say seemingly because by book's end
the reader will realize that he/she has done more than meet a group of loosely
related characters.
We
meet all of the characters during a one-day time period as each of them finds
their way to the Valley Diner on a rainy autumn day. From our first meeting
with Angel, the educationally challenged man who opens and closes the diner, to
our farewell for the day to the young waitress whose smile hides her despair we
meet a cross section of the Valley population. Rich, poor, ambitious, and not
so ambitious, each life proves that there is more to it beneath the surface.
And the one thing that binds these lives together is The Valley itself. Not so
much a place (or a memory) but an almost palpable living thing that becomes a
part of its inhabitants.
Let
me be the first the congratulate author John William Tuohy on a job well done.
He has evoked the heart of The Valley and in doing so brought to life the
fabric that Valleyites wear as a mantle of pride. While set in a specific
region of the country, the stories that unfold within the pages of this slim
volume are similar to those that live in many a small town from coast to coast.
By Sandra Mendyk
Just
read "Short Stories from a Small Town," and couldn't put it down!
Like Mr. Tuohy's other books I read, they keep your interest, especially if
you're from a small town and can relate to the lives of the people he writes
about. I recommend this book for anyone interested in human interest stories.
His characters all have a central place where the stories take place--a
diner--and come from different walks of life and wrestle with different problems
of everyday life. Enjoyable and thoughtful.
I loved how the author wrote about
"his people"
By kathee
A
touching thoughtful book. I loved how the author wrote about "his
people", the people he knew as a child from his town. It is based on sets
of time in the local diner, breakfast , lunch and dinner, but time stands still
... Highly recommend !
WONDERFUL book, I loved it!
By
John M. Cribbins
What
wonderful stories...I just loved this book.... It is great how it is written
following, breakfast, lunch, dinner, at a diner. Great characters.... I just
loved it....
The Observation and Appreciation of Architecture
St. Peters - The oldest church in Munich
Hofburg Imperial Palace, Vienna
The human being cannot live in a
condition of emptiness for very long: if he is not growing toward something, he
does not merely stagnate; the pent-up potentialities turn into morbidity and
despair, and eventually into destructive activities. Rollo May, Man’s Search for Himself
DON'T YOU WANT TO SEE THE ENTIRE WORLD?
I DO
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.
The Milky Way above Sekinchan Beach, Malaysia by Liew Wk
ROGER TOUHY,
THE LAST GANGSTER
Editorial
Reviews
From
Publishers Weekly
JFK's
pardons and the mob; Prohibition, Chicago's crime cadres and the staged
kidnapping of "`Jake the Barber'" Factor, "the black sheep
brother of the cosmetics king, Max Factor"; lifetime sentences, attempted
jail busts and the perseverance of "a rumpled private detective and an
eccentric lawyer" John W. Tuohy showcases all these and more sensational
and shady happenings in When Capone's Mob Murdered Roger Touhy: The Strange
Case of Touhy, Jake the Barber and the Kidnapping that Never Happened. The
author started investigating Touhy's 1959 murder by Capone's gang in 1975 for
an undergrad assignment. He traces the frame-job whereby Touhy was accused of
the kidnapping, his decades in jail, his memoirs, his retrial and release and,
finally, his murder, 28 days after regaining his freedom. Sixteen pages of
photos.
From
Library Journal
Roger
Touhy, one of the "terrible Touhys" and leader of a bootlegging
racket that challenged Capone's mob in Prohibition Chicago, had a lot to answer
for, but the crime that put him behind bars was, ironically, one he didn't
commit: the alleged kidnapping of Jake Factor, half-brother of Max Factor and
international swindler. Author Tuohy (apparently no relation), a former staff
investigator for the National Center for the Study of Organized Crime, briefly
traces the history of the Touhys and the Capone mob, then describes Factor's
plan to have himself kidnapped, putting Touhy behind bars and keeping himself
from being deported. This miscarriage of justice lasted 17 years and ended in
Touhy's parole and murder by the Capone mob 28 days later. Factor was never
deported. The author spent 26 years researching this story, and he can't bear
to waste a word of it. Though slim, the book still seems padded, with
irrelevant detail muddying the main story. Touhy is a hard man to feel sorry
for, but the author does his best. Sure to be popular in the Chicago area and
with the many fans of mob history, this is suitable for larger public libraries
and regional collections. Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH
BOOK
REVIEW
John
William Tuohy, one of the most prolific crime writers in America, has penned a
tragic, but fascinating story of Roger Touhy and John Factor. It's a tale born
out of poverty and violence, a story of ambition gone wrong and deception on an
enormous, almost unfathomable, scale. However, this is also a story of triumph
of determination to survive, of a lifelong struggle for dignity and redemption
of the spirit.
The
story starts with John "Jake the Barber" Factor. The product of the
turn of the century European ethnic slums of Chicago's west side, Jake's brother,
Max Factor, would go on to create an international cosmetic empire.
In
1926, Factor, grubstaked in a partnership with the great New York criminal
genius, Arnold Rothstien, and Chicago's Al Capone, John Factor set up a stock
scam in England that fleeced thousands of investors, including members of the
royal family, out of $8 million dollars, an incredible sum of money in 1926.
After
the scam fell apart, Factor fled to France, where he formed another syndicate
of con artists, who broke the bank at Monte Carlo by rigging the tables.
Eventually,
Factor fled to the safety of Capone's Chicago but the highest powers in the
Empire demanded his arrest. However, Factor fought extradition all the way to
the United States Supreme Court, but he had a weak case and deportation was
inevitable. Just 24 hours before the court was to decide his fate, Factor paid
to have himself kidnapped and his case was postponed. He reappeared in Chicago
several days later, and, at the syndicates' urging, accused gangster Roger
Touhy of the kidnapping.
Roger
"The Terrible" Touhy was the youngest son of an honest Chicago cop.
Although born in the Valley, a teeming Irish slum, the family moved to rural
Des Plains, Illinois while Roger was still a boy. Touhy's five older brothers
stayed behind in the valley and soon flew under the leadership of
"Terrible Tommy" O'Connor. By 1933, three of them would be shot dead
in various disputes with the mob and one, Tommy, would lose the use of his legs
by syndicate machine guns. Secure in the still rural suburbs of Cook County,
Roger Touhy graduated as class valedictorian of his Catholic school.
Afterwards, he briefly worked as an organizer for the Telegraph and
Telecommunications Workers Union after being blacklisted by Western Union for
his minor pro-labor activities.
Touhy
entered the Navy in the first world war and served two years, teaching Morse
code to Officers at Harvard University.
After
the war, he rode the rails out west where he earned a living as a railroad telegraph
operator and eventually made a small but respectable fortune as an oil well
speculator.
Returning
to Chicago in 1924, Touhy married his childhood sweetheart, regrouped with his
brothers and formed a partnership with a corrupt ward heeler named Matt Kolb,
and, in 1925, he started a suburban bootlegging and slot machine operation in
northwestern Cook County. Left out of the endless beer wars that plagued the
gangs inside Chicago, Touhy's operation flourished. By 1926, his slot machine
operations alone grossed over $1,000,000.00 a year, at a time when a gallon of
gas cost eight cents.
They
were unusual gangsters. When the Klu Klux Klan, then at the height of its
power, threatened the life of a priest who had befriended the gang, Tommy
Touhy, Roger's older brother, the real "Terrible Touhy," broke into
the Klan's national headquarters, stole its membership roles, and, despite an
offer of $25,000 to return them, delivered the list to the priest who published
the names in several Catholic newspapers the following day.
Once,
Touhy unthinkingly released several thousand gallons of putrid sour mash in to
the Des Plains River one day before the city was to reenact its discovery by
canoe-riding Jesuits a hundred years before. After a dressing down by the towns
people Touhy spent $10,000.00 on perfume and doused the river with it, saving
the day.
They
were inventive too. When the Chicago police levied a 50% protection tax on
Touhy's beer, Touhy bought a fleet of Esso gasoline delivery trucks, kept the
Esso logo on the vehicles, and delivered his booze to his speakeasies that way.
In
1930, when Capone invaded the labor rackets, the union bosses, mostly Irish and
completely corrupt, turned to the Touhy organization for protection. The
intermittent gun battles between the Touhys and the Capone mob over control of
beer routes which had been fought on the empty, back roads of rural Cook
County, was now brought into the city where street battles extracted an awesome
toll on both sides. The Chicago Tribune estimated the casualties to be one
hundred dead in less then 12 months.
By
the winter of 1933, remarkably, Touhy was winning the war in large part because
joining him in the struggle against the mob was Chicago's very corrupt, newly
elected mayor Anthony "Ten percent Tony" Cermak, who was as much a
gangster as he was an elected official.
Cermak
threw the entire weight of his office and the whole Chicago police force behind
Touhy's forces. Eventually, two of Cermak's police bodyguards arrested Frank
Nitti, the syndicate's boss, and, for a price, shot him six times. Nitti lived.
As a result, two months later Nitti's gunmen caught up with Cermak at a
political rally in Florida.
Using
previously overlooked Secret Service reports, this book proves, for the first
time, that the mob stalked Cermak and used a hardened felon to kill him. The
true story behind the mob's 1933 murder of Anton Cermak, will changes histories
understanding of organized crimes forever. The fascinating thing about this killing
is its eerie similarity to the Kennedy assassination in Dallas thirty years
later, made even more macabre by the fact that several of the names associated
with the Cermak killing were later aligned with the Kennedy killing.
For
many decades, it was whispered that the mob had executed Cermak for his role in
the Touhy-syndicate war of 1931-33, but there was never proof. The official
story is that a loner named Giuseppe Zangara, an out-of-work, Sicilian born
drifter with communist leanings, traveled to Florida in the winter of 1933 and
fired several shots at President Franklin Roosevelt. He missed the President,
but killed Chicago's Mayor Anton Cermak instead. However, using long lost
documents, Tuohy is able to prove that Zangara was a convicted felon with long
ties to mob Mafia and that he very much intended to murder Anton Cermak.
With
Cermak dead, Touhy was on his own against the mob. At the same time, the United
States Postal Service was closing in on his gang for pulling off the largest mail
heists in US history at that time. The cash was used to fund Touhy's war with
the Capones.Then in June of 1933, John Factor en he reappeared, Factor accused
Roger Touhy of kidnapping him. After two sensational trials, Touhy was
convicted of kidnapping John Factor and sentenced to 99 years in prison and
Factor, after a series of complicated legal maneuvers, and using the mob's
influence, was allowed to remain in the United States as a witness for the
prosecution, however, he was still a wanted felon in England.
By
1942 Roger Touhy had been in prison for nine years, his once vast fortune was
gone. Roger's family was gone as well. At his request, his wife Clara had moved
to Florida with their two sons in 1934. However, with the help of Touhy's
remaining sister, the family retained a rumpled private detective, actually a
down-and-out, a very shady and disbarred mob lawyer named Morrie Green.
Disheveled
of not, Green was a highly competent investigator and was able to piece
together and prove the conspiracy that landed Touhy in jail. However, no court
would hear the case, and by the fall of 1942, Touhy had exhausted every legal
avenue open to him.Desperate, Touhy hatched a daring daylight breakout over the
thirty foot walls of Stateville prison.The sensational escape ended three
months later in a dramatic and bloody shootout between the convicts and the
FBI, led by J. Edgar Hoover.
Less
then three months after Touhy was captured, Fox Studios hired producer Brian
Foy to churn out a mob financed docudrama film on the escape entitled,
"Roger Touhy, The Last Gangster." The executive producer on the film
was Johnny Roselli, the hood who later introduced Judy Campbell to Frank
Sinatra. Touhy sued Fox and eventually won his case and the film was withdrawn
from circulation. In 1962, Columbia pictures and John Houston tried to produce
a remake of the film, but were scared off the project.
While
Touhy was on the run from prison, John Factor was convicted for m ail fraud and
was sentenced and served ten years at hard labor. Factor's take from the scam
was $10,000,000.00 in cash.
Released
in 1949, Factor took control of the Stardust Hotel Casino in 1955, then the
largest operation on the Vegas strip. The casino's true owners, of course, were
Chicago mob bosses Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo, Murray Humpreys and Sam Giancana.
From 1955 to 1963, the length of Factor's tenure at the casino, the US Justice
Department estimated that the Chicago outfit skimmed between forty-eight to 200
million dollars from the Stardust alone.
In
1956, while Factor and the outfit were growing rich off the Stardust, Roger
Touhy hired a quirky, high strung, but highly effective lawyer named Robert B.
Johnstone to take his case. A brilliant legal tactician, who worked incessantly
on Touhy's freedom, Robert Johnstone managed to get Touhy's case heard before
federal judge John P. Barnes, a refined magistrate filled with his own
eccentricities. After two years of hearings, Barnes released a 1,500-page
decision on Touhy's case, finding that Touhy was railroaded to prison in a
conspiracy between the mob and the state attorney's office and that John Factor
had kidnapped himself as a means to avoid extradition to England.
Released
from prison in 1959, Touhy wrote his life story "The Stolen Years"
with legendary Chicago crime reporter, Ray Brennan. It was Brennan, as a young
cub reporter, who broke the story of John Dillenger's sensational escape from
Crown Point prison, supposedly with a bar of soap whittled to look like a pistol.
It was also Brennan who brought about the end of Roger Touhy's mortal enemy,
"Tubbo" Gilbert, the mob owned chief investigator for the Cook County
state attorney's office, and who designed the frame-up that placed Touhy behind
bars.
Factor
entered a suit against Roger Touhy, his book publishers and Ray Brennan,
claiming it damaged his reputation as a "leading citizen of Nevada and a
philanthropist."
The
teamsters, Factor's partners in the Stardust Casino, refused to ship the book
and Chicago's bookstore owners were warned by Tony Accardo, in person, not to
carry the book.
Touhy
and Johnstone fought back by drawing up the papers to enter a $300,000,000
lawsuit against John Factor, mob leaders Paul Ricca, Tony Accardo and Murray
Humpreys as well as former Cook County state attorney Thomas Courtney and Tubbo
Gilbert, his chief investigator, for wrongful imprisonment.
The
mob couldn't allow the suit to reach court, and considering Touhy's
determination, Ray Brennan's nose for a good story and Bob Johnstone's legal
talents, there was no doubt the case would make it to court. If the case went
to court, John Factor, the outfit's figurehead at the lucrative Stardust
Casino, could easily be tied in to illegal teamster loans. At the same time,
the McClellan committee was looking into the ties between the teamsters, Las
Vegas and organized crime and the raid at the mob conclave in New York state
had awakened the FBI and brought them into the fight. So, Touhy's lawsuit was,
in effect, his death sentence.
Twenty-five
days after his release from twenty-five years in prison, Roger Touhy was gunned
down on a frigid December night on his sister's front door.
Two
years after Touhy's murder, in 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy ordered
his Justice Department to look into the highly suspect dealings of the Stardust
Casino. Factor was still the owner on record, but had sold his interest in the
casino portion of the hotel for a mere 7 million dollars. Then, in December of
that year, the INS, working with the FBI on Bobby Kennedy's orders, informed
Jake Factor that he was to be deported from the United States before the end of
the month. Factor would be returned to England where he was still a wanted
felon as a result of his 1928 stock scam. Just 48 hours before the deportation,
Factor, John Kennedy's largest single personal political contributor, was
granted a full and complete Presidential pardon which allowed him to stay in
the United States.
The
story hints that Factor was more then probably an informant for the Internal
Revenue Service, it also investigates the murky world of Presidential pardons,
the last imperial power of the Executive branch. It's a sordid tale of abuse of
privilege, the mob's best friend and perhaps it is time the American people
reconsider the entire notion.
The
mob wasn't finished with Factor. Right after his pardon, Factor was involved in
a vague, questionable financial plot to try and bail teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa
out of his seemingly endless financial problems in Florida real estate. He was
also involved with a questionable stock transaction with mobster Murray
Humpreys. Factor spent the remaining twenty years of his life as a benefactor
to California's Black ghettos. He tried, truly, to make amends for all of the
suffering he had caused in his life. He spent millions of dollars building
churches, gyms, parks and low cost housing in the poverty stricken ghettos.
When he died, three United States Senators, the Mayor of Los Angles and several
hundred poor Black waited in the rain to pay their last respects at Jake the
Barber's funeral.
Interesting
Information on A Little Known Case
By Bill Emblom
Author John Tuohy, who has a
similar spelling of the last name to his subject Roger, but apparently no
relation, has provided us with an interesting story of northwest Chicago beer
baron Roger Touhy who was in competition with Al Capone during Capone's heyday.
Touhy appeared to be winning the battle since Mayor Anton Cermak was deporting
a number of Capone's cronies. However, the mob hit, according to the author, on
Mayor Cermak in Miami, Florida, by Giuseppe Zangara following a speech by
President-elect Roosevelt, put an end to the harrassment of Capone's cronies.
The author details the staged "kidnapping" of Jake "the
Barber" Factor who did this to avoid being deported to England and facing
a prison sentence there for stock swindling, with Touhy having his rights
violated and sent to prison for 25 years for the kidnapping that never
happened. Factor and other Chicago mobsters were making a lot of money with the
Stardust Casino in Las Vegas when they got word that Touhy was to be parolled
and planned to write his life story. The mob, not wanting this, decided Touhy
had to be eliminated. Touhy was murdered by hit men in 1959, 28 days after
gaining his freedom. Jake Factor had also spent time in prison in the United
States for a whiskey swindle involving 300 victims in 12 states. Two days
before Factor was to be deported to England to face prison for the stock
swindle President Kennedy granted Factor a full Presidential Pardon after
Factor's contribution to the Bay of Pigs fund. President Kennedy, the author
notes, issued 472 pardons (about half questionable) more than any president
before or since.
There are a number of books on
Capone and the Chicago mob. This book takes a look at an overlooked beer baron
from that time period, Roger Touhy. It is a very worthwhile read and one that
will hold your interest.
GREAT
BOOK FROM CHICAGO AND ERA WAS MY DAD'S,TRUE TO STORY
Very good book. Hard to put down
Bymistakesweremadeon
Eight long years locked up for a
kidnapping that was in fact a hoax, in autumn 1942, Roger Touhy & his gang
of cons busted out of Stateville, the infamous "roundhouse" prison,
southwest of Chicago Illinois. On the lam 2 months he was, when J Edgar &
his agents sniffed him out in a run down 6-flat tenement on the city's far
north lakefront. "Terrible Roger" had celebrated Christmas morning on
the outside - just like all square Johns & Janes - but by New Year's Eve,
was back in the bighouse.
Touhy's arrest hideout holds
special interest to me because I grew up less than a mile away from it. Though
I never knew so til 1975 when his bio was included in hard-boiled crime
chronicler Jay Robert Nash's, Badmen & Bloodletters, a phone book sized
encyclopedia of crooks & killers. Touhy's hard scrabble charisma stood out
among 200 years' worth of sociopathic Americana Nash had alphabetized, and
gotten a pulphouse publisher to print up for him.
I read Nash's outlaw dictionary
as a teen, and found Touhy's Prohibition era David vs Goliath battles with
ultimate gangster kingpin, Al Capone quite alluring, in an anti-hero sorta way.
Years later I learned Touhy had written a memoir, and reading his The Stolen
Years only reinforced my image of an underdog speakeasy beer baron - slash
suburban family man - outwitting the stone cold killer who masterminded the St.
Valentine's Day Massacre.
Like most autobiographies tho,
Touhy's book painted him the good guy. Just an everyday gent caught up in events,
and he sold his story well. Had I been a saloonkeeper back then I could picture
myself buying his sales pitch - and liking the guy too. I sure bought into his
tale, which in hindsight criminal scribe Nash had too, because both writers
portray Touhy - though admittedly a crook - as never "really" hurting
anybody. Only doing what any down-to-earth bootlegger running a million
dollar/year criminal enterprise would have.
What Capone's Mob Murdered Roger
Touhy author John Tuohy does tho is, provide a more objective version of
events, balancing out Touhy's white wash ... 'er ... make that subjectively ...
remembered telling of his life & times. Author Tuohy's account of gangster
Touhy's account forced me - grown up now - to re-account for my own original
take on the story.
As a kid back then, Touhy seemed
almost a Robin Hood- ish hood - if you'll pardon a very lame pun. Forty years
on tho re-considering the evidence, I think a persuasive - if not iron-clad
convincing - case can be made for his conviction in the kidnapping of swindler
scumbag Jake the Barber Factor. At least as far as conspiracy to do so goes,
anyways. (Please excuse the crude redundancy there but Factor's stench truly
was that of the dog s*** one steps in on those unfortunate occasions one does.)
Touhy's memoir painted himself as
almost an innocent bystander at his own life's events. But he was a very smart
& savvy guy - no dummy by a long shot. And I kinda do believe now, to not
have known his own henchmen were in on Factor's ploy to stave off deportation
and imprisonment, Touhy would have had to be as naive a Prohibition crime boss
- and make no mistake he was one - as I was as a teenage kid reading Nash's
thug-opedia,
On the other hand, the guy was
the father of two sons and it's repulsive to consider he would have taken part
in loathsomeness the crime of kidnapping was - even if the abducted victim was
an adult and as repulsively loathsome as widows & orphans conman, Jake
Factor.
This book's target audience is
crime buffs no doubt, but it's an interesting read just the same; and includes
anecdotes and insights I had not known of before. Unfortunately too, one that
knocks a hero of mine down a peg or two - or more like ten.
Circa 1960, President Kennedy
pardoned Jake the Barber, a fact that reading of almost made me puke. Then
again JFK and the Chicago Mob did make for some strange bedfellowery every now
& again. I'll always admire WWII US Navy commander Kennedy's astonishing
(word chosen carefully) bravery following his PT boat's sinking, but him
signing that document - effectively wiping Factor's s*** stain clean - as
payback for campaign contributions Factor made to him, was REALLY nauseating to
read.
Come to think of it tho, the
terms "criminal douchedog" & "any political candidate"
are pretty much interchangeable.
Anyways tho ... rest in peace
Rog, & I raise a toast - of virtual bootleg ale - in your honor:
"Turns out you weren't the hard-luck mug I'd thought you were, but what
the hell, at least you had style." And guts to meet your inevitable end
with more grace than a gangster should.
Post Note: Author Tuohy's
re-examination of the evidence in the Roger Touhy case does include some heroes
- guys & women - who attempted to find the truth of what did happen.
Reading about people like that IS rewarding. They showed true courage - and
decency - in a world reeking of corruption & deceit. So, here's to the
lawyer who took on a lost cause; the private detective who dug up buried facts;
and most of all, Touhy's wife & sister who stood by his side all those
years.
Crime
don't pay, kids
Very good organized crime book. A
rather obscure gangster story which makes it fresh to read. I do not like these
minimum word requirements for a review. (There, I have met my minimum)
Chicago
Gangster History At It's Best
ByJ. CROSBYon
As a 4th generation Chicagoan, I
just loved this book. Growing up in the 1950's and 60's I heard the name
"Terrible Touhy's" mentioned many times. Roger was thought of as a
great man, and seems to have been held in high esteem among the old timer
Chicagoans.
That said, I thought this book to
be nothing but interesting and well written. (It inspired me to find a copy of
Roger's "Stolen Years" bio.) I do recommend this book to other folks
interested in prohibition/depression era Chicago crime research. It is a must
have for your library of Gangsters literature from that era. Chock full of
information and the reader is transported back in time.
I'd like to know just what is
"The Valley" area today in Chicago. I still live in the Windy City
and would like to see if anything remains from the early days of the 20th
century.
A good writer and a good book! I
will buy some more of Mr. Tuohy's work.
Great
story, great read
ByBookreaderon
A complex tale of gangsters,
political kickback, mob wars and corrupt politicians told with wit and humor at
a good pace. Highly recommend this book.
One
of the best books I've read in a long time....
If you're into mafioso, read
this! I loved it. Bought a copy for my brother to read for his birthday--good
stuff.
CYBERDATE
An award winning full length
play.
"Cyberdate.Com is the
story of six ordinary people in search of romance, friendship and love and find
it in very extraordinary ways. Based on the real life experiences of the
authors misadventures with on line dating, Cyber date is a bittersweet story
that will make you laugh, cry and want to fall in love again." Ellis
McKay
Cyberdate.Com, was chosen for a
public at the Actors Chapel in Manhattan in February of 2007 as part of the
groups Reading Series for New York project. In June of 2008, the play won the
Virginia Theater of The First Amendment Award for best new play. The play was
also given a full reading at The Frederick Playhouse in Maryland in March of
2007.
GUNS AND GLAMOUR
Capone. Torrio. Ricca. Giancana and
Accardo. The giant legends of organized crime that led the largest, wealthiest,
most powerful, and near completely documented organized crime syndicate in the
world. At the height of its power, the Chicago mobs influence extended from
Lake Shore Drive to the beaches of Havana, the neon lights of Vegas and the
heroin drenched back alleys of Hanoi. The years 1900 through 1959 are largely
considered the Golden Age for the Chicago mob. The end came with the accession
of Sam “Momo” Giancana to the criminal throne that Big Jim Colosimo had
founded. Flashy, arrogant and dangerous, Giancana’s rise to the leadership of
the Chicago Mob was paralleled by the federal government’s assault on organized
crime. By 1980, the Chicago mob has lost control of the organized labor on a
national basis and given up Las Vegas Las Vegas. Virtually every significant
Mafia Boss in the country was in jail or under indictment and Sam Giancana was
shot dead by his own men. The so-called Golden Age of Chicago Mob had ended.
Between 1900 and 1959, fifty-nine years, only seven Bosses led the Chicago Mob.
Between 1963 and 2000, thirty-seven years, there were more than nine Bosses in
rapid succession. All except one of them…the indomitable Tony Accardo…died in
jail or under federal and state indictment. While the Chicago Mob still wields
considerable criminal, financial, and political influence, it is a mere shadow
of what it once was. With increased pressure from far reaching RICO laws, the
constant surveillance of a well-informed and effective federal organized crime
task force and increased competition from equally ruthless and ambitious new
ethnic mobs, there is little chance it will ever reemerge as the awesome power
it once was.
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: I heard a lot about Chicago mafia and
I think it very interesting theme and I read few books but those books were so
hard to read (!): small font, a lot of slangs, hard spelling words! But John
Tuohy's book not like that!!! It's easy to read(and I'm not saying it written
poor or anything), what I mean is for the person who doesn't know much about
the mafia world this book is really helps to understand all the details, I
would say to see the whole picture!!! This book is really interesting and
helpful!
It also has a lot of photographs which
makes the book even better!
I wish there would be more writers like
John Tuohy who makes the books more interesting and cognitive!
Amazon review: Mr. Tuohy, has out done himself with
this prized piece of literary work! Since I'm a Chicagoan, born and raised for
40 years, some of them on the very same streets where some of the Outfit's
associates and higher-ups lived, and after the first few pages I'm hooked. His
writing style to me is very easy to digest, and his photos are spectacular,
either due to it's rarity or the person being photo, alot of these Outfit
bosses/hitman didn't like to be photographed, and believe me, they made sure
that you knew it. To take the Chicago Outfit and write about the ups and downs
the Organization went through during this 100 year time frame is an amazing
feat. You get some real good stories, written without an agenda, just to get
the information out to the public. A brilliant topic which was handled with
care and dignity by Mr.Tuohy, as I'm finding out is the case in ALL OF HIS
BOOKS, be they organized crime or based on something else. Get if a try, you'll
end up buying more than the one book, betcha you can't read just one!!!
An interesting book about the history
of the Chicago mob. It highlights the legends of the Chicago mob in the 1900s.
Any fan of the Chicago mob should add this to their collection.
The Mob and the Kennedy Assassination: Jack Ruby. Testimony by
Mobsters Lewis McWillie, Joseph Campisi and Irwin Weiner (The Mob Files) Kindle
Edition
From the Inside Flap
The United States House of
Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was established in
1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther
King, Jr. and the shooting of Alabama Governor George Wallace. The Committee
investigated until 1978 and issued its final report, and ruled that Kennedy was
very likely assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. However, the Committee
noted that it believed that the conspiracy did not include the governments of
the Soviet Union or Cuba.
The Committee also stated it did not believe
the conspiracy was organized by any organized crime group, nor any anti-Castro
group, but that it could not rule out individual members of any of those groups
acting together.
The House Select Committee on
Assassinations suffered from being conducted mostly in secret, and then issued
a public report with much of its evidence sealed for 50 years under
Congressional rules.
In 1992, Congress passed legislation to
collect and open up all the evidence relating to Kennedy's death, and created
the Assassination Records Review Board to further that goal.
General conclusions
In particular, the various
investigations performed by the U.S. government were faulted for insufficient
consideration of the possibility of a conspiracy in each case. The Committee in
its report also made recommendations for legislative and administrative
improvements, including making some assassinations Federal crimes.
The Chief Counsel of the Committee
later changed his views that the CIA was being cooperative and forthcoming with
the investigation when he learned that the CIA's special liaison to the
Committee researchers, George Joannides, was actually involved with some of the
organizations that Lee Harvey Oswald was involved with in the months leading up
to the assassination, including an anti-Castro group, the DRE, which was linked
to the CIA, where the liaison, Joannides, worked in 1963.
Chief Counsel Blakey later stated that Joannides,
instead, should have been interviewed by the Committee, rather than serving as
a gatekeeper to the CIA's evidence and files regarding the assassination. He
further disregarded and suspected all the CIA's statements and representations
to the Committee, accusing it of obstruction of justice.
Conclusions regarding the Kennedy
assassination
The HSCA concluded in its 1979 report
that:
1.Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots at
Kennedy. The second and third shots he fired struck the President. The third
shot Oswald fired successfully killed the President.
2.Scientific acoustical evidence establishes a
high probability that at least two gunmen fired at the President. Other
scientific evidence does not preclude the possibility of two gunmen firing at
the President. Scientific evidence negates some specific conspiracy
allegations.
3.The committee believes, on the basis of the
evidence available to it, that the President John F. Kennedy was probably
assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. The committee was unable to identify
the other gunmen or the extent of the conspiracy. The committee believes, on
the basis of the evidence available to it, that the Soviet Government was not
involved in the assassination of President Kennedy.
The committee believes, on the basis of
the evidence available to it, that the Cuban Government was not involved in the
assassination of President Kennedy.
The committee believes, on the basis of
the evidence available to it, that anti-Castro Cuban groups, as groups, were
not involved in the assassination of President Kennedy, but that the available
evidence does not preclude the possibility that individual members may have
been involved.
The committee believes, on the basis of
the evidence available to it, that the national syndicate of organized crime,
as a group, was not involved in the assassination of President Kennedy, but
that the available evidence does not preclude the possibility that individual
members may have been involved.
The committee believes, on the basis of the
evidence available to it, that the Secret Service, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and Central Intelligence Agency were not involved in the
assassination of President Kennedy.
4. Agencies and departments of the U.S.
Government performed with varying degrees of competency in the fulfilment of
their duties. President John F. Kennedy did not receive adequate protection. A
thorough and reliable investigation into the responsibility of Lee Harvey
Oswald for the assassination was conducted. The investigation into the
possibility of conspiracy in the assassination was inadequate. The conclusions
of the investigations were arrived at in good faith, but presented in a fashion
that was too definitive.
The Committee further concluded that it
was probable that:
Four shots were fired. The third shot came
from a second assassin located on the grassy knoll, but missed. They concluded
that it missed due to the lack of physical evidence of an actual bullet, of
course this investigation took place almost sixteen years after the crime.
The HSCA agreed with the single bullet theory,
but concluded that it occurred at a time point during the assassination that
differed from any of the several time points the Warren Commission theorized it
occurred.
The Department of Justice, FBI, CIA,
and the Warren Commission were all criticized for not revealing to the Warren
Commission information available in 1964, and the Secret Service was deemed
deficient in their protection of the President.
The HSCA made several accusations of
deficiency against the FBI and CIA.
The accusations encompassed
organizational failures, miscommunication, and a desire to keep certain parts
of their operations secret. Furthermore, the Warren Commission expected these
agencies to be forthcoming with any information that would aid their
investigation. But the FBI and CIA only saw it as their duty to respond to
specific requests for information from the commission. However, the HSCA found
the FBI and CIA were deficient in performing even that limited role.
In 2003, Robert Blakey, staff director
and chief counsel for the Committee, issued a statement on the Central
Intelligence Agency:
...I no longer believe that we were
able to conduct an appropriate investigation of the [Central Intelligence]
Agency and its relationship to Oswald.... We now know that the Agency withheld
from the Warren Commission the CIA-Mafia plots to kill Castro. Had the
commission known of the plots, it would have followed a different path in its
investigation. The Agency unilaterally deprived the commission of a chance to
obtain the full truth, which will now never be known. Significantly, the Warren
Commission's conclusion that the agencies of the government co-operated with it
is, in retrospect, not the truth. We also now know that the Agency set up a
process that could only have been designed to frustrate the ability of the
committee in 1976-79 to obtain any information that might adversely affect the
Agency. Many have told me that the culture of the Agency is one of prevarication
and dissimulation and that you cannot trust it or its people. Period. End of
story. I am now in that camp.
The Kefauver Organized Crime Hearings. Abridged.
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: Senator Kefauver is a great person!
The committee did a amazingly great job investigating organized crime in
different cities, the same as the author did putting it all together in one
book!!It was really interesting to read this record! I felt like I was there in
a court room! Seriously, very impressive!
Amazon review: It's great that we have such a great
historical document in print! Senator Kefauver and the committee investigate
Organized Crime all over the country: Miami, NY, New Orleans, Philadelphia,
Kansas city, etc. This record
has many interviews with mafia leaders. Rare and great
photographs! It's one of the best criminal books I ever read! I would highly
recommend it to anyone!
The Connecticut Irish
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: This book is not a history of the
Irish in Connecticut so much as it is a history of people of Irish decent of
the great State of Connecticut, but in that, it does a very good job reporting
the facts and being wholly inclusive. It has presents dome very wonderful
photographs and fives a brief but disturbing picture of the Anti-Irish movement
in the New England states.
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: "Shooting the Mob: Organized
Crime in photos, Crime Boss Tony Accardo" was a welcomed addition to my
book collection. For one thing, not much is written about ,"the Big
Tuna", Tony Accardo; the Chicago Outfit's "man of many talents",
let alone any photos. This book gives the reader a chance to gain some
knowledge on the amazing Outfit boss/consigliere, that might not otherwise be
available.
For me, it was a must for my
collection; not to give too much away, but there are photos and personal
information about the life and times of Anthony "JB" Accardo; from
his days hanging around the "Circus Cafe" with "Tough" Tony
Capezio, John "Screwey" Moore and "Machine Gun" Jack
McGurn, to catching "the Big Guy's",attention, "Snorky" who
then had him sitting in the lobby of his hotels with a Thompson Sub-Machine Gun
on guard duty!
Things just kept getting better for the
capable "Joe Batters"!!
Mob Testimony: Joe Pistone, Michael Scars DiLeonardo, Angelo
Lonardo and others: The court testimony of FBI New York Undercover Agent Joe
Pistone
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: What I loved about this book is that
even though its mostly testimony before government investigative inquires, you
can sense the hood attitudes and their arrogance. This is the real mob talking
about everyday life as a gangster. Good stuff
Amazon review: This is the story of gangland told in
the federal testimony of the hoodlum who decided to talk about life in the underworld.
Although some Chicago gangsters are included in the text and photos (Lots of
photos here) the concentration is on the New York mob.
An Illustrated Chronological History of the Chicago Mob. Time
Line. 1837-2000
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: Love the pictures in the book, some
of them I've not seen before. This is a good outline for what one needs to know
about the rise and fall of what was once a mighty underworld mob.
Amazon review: Pretty good outline in photos and
text of the Chicago Outfit from start to what is basically its finish, the last
year of the 20th century.
EMERSON
Amazon review: I purchased this book for my daughter
who loves Emerson. The quotes are organized in categories and are easy to find
and read. The book includes the most memorable quotes of Emerson and my
daughter loves it.
Amazon review: This is really enjoyable to read and
I like how it is done and you can look up all sorts of things. I have shared
some of Emerson's quotes from this book on my website right from this book,
giving him credit.
Amazon review: Made me hungry for more!!
Amazon review: It's a keeper!
The New England Mafia.
Amazon review: Good book about the New England mafia
with some nice rare pictures
Amazon review: Coming from RI - The book was great
Amazon review: This held my interest, read it in two
sittings, quite late at night. Most of the main characters were familiar to me,
being a born and bred New Englander, got a kick out of some of the
descriptions. A good easy read with lots of history and Mafia insight.
Mob Recipes to Die For. Meals and Mobsters in Photos Paperback –
December 20, 2011
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: This is a funny book, okay a little
bloody in places but believe it or not, the recipes are actually pretty good
and there are several good stories about mobsters and meals. The mob stories
are mixed with authentic Italian recipes and other Outfit anecdotes and all of
it makes for fun reading and actually some pretty good cooking.(Including the
meat sauce recipe from the prison scene in "Gooodfellas") Most of the
recipes are very simple fare, quick to make and include classic dishes like
Shrimp Scampi, a simple Tomato Sauce, Veal Piccata, Asparagus with Prosciutto,
Baked Stuffed Clams, Veal Chops Milanese, Caponata and Lobster. The book has
about 50 something photos of dead mobsters followed by a recipe. The bloody
scenes aside, this book would make compliment most cooking libraries and will
works especially well for the novice cook.
Shooting the Mob: Organized Crime in Photos: The Saint Valentine's
Day Massacre. Paperback – December 7, 2011
by Shadrach Bond
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: A detailed photographic account of
the murders that shocked the underworld, the St. Valentine's Day massacre. The
author tells the story of what happened and how it happened on that fateful day
for the Northside gang and demonstrates with photos. Good book.
Shooting the Mob: Organized Crime in Photographs. Dutch Schultz.
Paperback – May 4, 2012
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: Dutch Schultz continues to capture
and fascinate and his story, including his last words, are detailed here with
dozens of photographs from Schultz early days in crime until the bitter end.
Amazon review: Dutch Schultz (Arthur Flegenheimer)
was the problem child of organized crime in New York City in the 1920s and
1930s who made his fortune in bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket. The
book gives a quick but accurate account of the Dutchman's rise and his battle
in two tax evasions trials led by prosecutor Thomas Dewey. It covers his
murder, probably on the orders of fellow mobster Lucky Luciano. In an effort to
avert his conviction, Schultz asked the Commission for permission to kill
Dewey, which they declined. After Schultz disobeyed the Commission and
attempted to carry out the hit, they ordered his assassination in 1935. The
book has a very fine series of photographs. Good reading at a fair price.
Shooting the mob. Organized crime in photos. Dead Mobsters,
Gangsters and Hoods.
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: This book covers the full gamut of
gangsters with many excellent photos. The story accompanying each slain hoodlum
varies from a few pages to one or two lines. The book suffers from atrocious
editing of the text. Words are frequently mispelled or missing, sentences often
end half way through only to resume as a new sentence and paragraphs sometimes end
midsentence. There are also no sources for anything. If not for this, the book
would have received five stars.
Amazon review: There is no shortage of corpses in
this book. Its page after page of dead hoodlums from the underworld with a
passage on how they got that way and by whom. Gory but I must say, fascinating
as the violence of the underworld so often is. The book is a guilty pleasure.
The Salerno Report. The Mafia and the Murder of President John F.
Kennedy: The report by Mafia expert Ralph Salerno Consultant to the Select Committee on Assassinations
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: A must read for anyone studying the
Kennedy assassination. Among the many conspiracy theories is the possible
involvement of Mafia. As we all know there are no definite conclusions, and
history may never resolve the issue, but this report is engaging and captive
reading.
Amazon review: The Salerno Report is far more
accurate than the Warren Report
Amazon review: Evidence mounted in a certain
direction. The truth is still discoverable, and this ghastly event in our
history deserves still more examination. This book contributes to the eventual
revelation of what really happened.
Baby Boomers Guide to the Beatles Songs of the Sixties
READERS REVIEWS FROM
AMAZON BOOKS
Amazon review: There are more intense books that go
into supposed motivation and recording techniques and equipment, but this is a
lovely work that illuminates the songs and the stories behind them without
being overbearing in doing so. I really enjoyed it - bought several copies to
give as gifts. Well done!
Rosenthal murder case
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
"The old Metropole. The old
Metropole," brooded Mr. Wolfshiem gloomily. "Filled with faces dead
and gone. Filled with friends gone now forever. I can't forget so long as I
live the night they shot Rosy Rosenthal there. It was six of us at the table,
and Rosy had eat and drunk a lot all evening. When it was almost morning the
waiter came up to him with a funny look and says somebody wants to speak to him
outside. 'all right,' says Rosy, and
begins to get up, and I pulled him down in his chair. "'Let the bastards
in here if they want you, Rosy, but don't you, so help me, move outside this
room.' "It was four o'clock in the morning then, and if we'd of raised the
blinds we'd of seen daylight."
"Did he go?" I asked
innocently.
'Sure he went." Mr. Wolfshiem's
nose flashed at me indignantly. "He turned around in the door and says:
'Don't let that waiter take away my coffee!' Then he went out on the sidewalk,
and they shot him three times in his full belly and drove away."
"Four of them were
electrocuted,"
I said, remembering. "Five, with
Becker"
The Great Gatsby
Amazon review: The Becker-Rosenthal trial was a 1912
trial for the murder of Herman Rosenthal by Charles Becker and members of the
Lenox Avenue Gang. The trial ran from October 7, 1912 to October 30, 1912 and
restarted on May 2, 1914 to May 22, 1914. Other procedural events took place in
1915.
In July 1912, Lieutenant Charles Becker was
named in the New York World as one of three senior police officials involved in
the case of Herman Rosenthal, a small time bookmaker who had complained to the
press that his illegal casinos had been badly damaged by the greed of Becker
and his associates. On July 16, two days after the story appeared, Rosenthal
walked out of the Hotel Metropole at 147 West 43rd Street, just off Times
Square. He was gunned down by a crew of Jewish gangsters from the Lower East
Side, Manhattan. In the aftermath, Manhattan District Attorney Charles S.
Whitman, who had made an appointment with Rosenthal before his death, made no
secret of his belief that the gangsters had committed the murder at Charles
Becker's behest.
At first, John J. Reisler, also known as
"John the barber," told the police that he'd seen "Bridgey"
Webber running away from the crime scene directly following the killing. He
recanted under duress from gangsters the next week, and was charged with
perjury.
The investigation was covered on the front
page of the New York Times for months. It was so complex that the NYPD recalled
thirty retired detectives to help investigate; they were said "to know
most of the gangsters."
One of these old-timers, Detective
Upton, formerly of the NYPD "Italian Squad," was instrumental in the
July 25, 1912, arrest of "Dago" Frank Cirofici, one of the suspected
killers. He and his companion, Regina Gorden (formerly known as "Rose
Harris"), were "so stupefied by opium that they offered no objection
to their arrests," according to the New York Times.
Joe Petrosino
READERS REVIEWS FROM AMAZON BOOKS
Review: Any book about Joe Petrosino can't be
all bad. Far too little attention is paid to Petrosino these days. The foolish
Public remembers names of scumbags like Capone, Gotti, Valachi, Tony Soprano,
etc. Far too few people remember New York Cop Joe Petrosino. In a time when
Italians were segregated, harassed by Cops and treated as second class
citizens, Petrosino arose as the first Italian anti-gangster Cop. Then, as now,
gangsters claimed they were the victims of prejudice, discrimination and
profiling. Petrosino rose above his times to become a Pioneer in anti-Mafia
police work. Tough as nails, un-corruptible, and utterly fearless, Petrosino
was assassinated by the Mafia in their usual cowardly style.
Review: This book is a welcome bit of
scholarship on the great Petrosino. Tuohy's book does contain an, apparent,
misprint. There is a lone word, without authority, regarding Petrosino being
"corrupt," perhaps a reference to his tough police tactics.
Corruption, however, implies a personal power or profit motive. Tuohy provides
no evidence or argument of any such motive or activity on Petrosino's part. On
the contrary, the only evidence is that Petrosino was a good, honest Cop.
Petrosino is a role model for young and old alike, oppressed immigrants,
Review: I have several books from The Mob
Files Series and I have really enjoyed reading them. The Joe Petrosino story is
definitely one worth reading. He had an interesting life working against the
mafia. I enjoyed seeing the pictures in the book and they helped bring the story
to life.
Oh Yeah by Norman Rockwell, 1951
MUSIC FOR THE SOUL
Ron Carter, NYC, 1973
GOOD WORDS TO HAVE…………
Tawdry \TAW-dree\: Cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality; also : ignoble. In the 7th century, Etheldreda, the queen of Northumbria, renounced her husband and her royal position for the veil of a nun. She was renowned for her saintliness and is traditionally said to have died of a swelling in her throat, which she took as a judgment upon her fondness for wearing necklaces in her youth. Her shrine became a principal site of pilgrimage in England. An annual fair was held in her honor on October 17th, and her name became simplified to St. Audrey. At these fairs various kinds of cheap knickknacks were sold, along with a type of necklace called St. Audrey's lace, which by the 16th century had become altered to tawdry lace. Eventually, tawdry came to be used to describe anything cheap and gaudy that might be found at these fairs or anywhere else.
Tawdry \TAW-dree\: Cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality; also : ignoble. In the 7th century, Etheldreda, the queen of Northumbria, renounced her husband and her royal position for the veil of a nun. She was renowned for her saintliness and is traditionally said to have died of a swelling in her throat, which she took as a judgment upon her fondness for wearing necklaces in her youth. Her shrine became a principal site of pilgrimage in England. An annual fair was held in her honor on October 17th, and her name became simplified to St. Audrey. At these fairs various kinds of cheap knickknacks were sold, along with a type of necklace called St. Audrey's lace, which by the 16th century had become altered to tawdry lace. Eventually, tawdry came to be used to describe anything cheap and gaudy that might be found at these fairs or anywhere else.
Though I may seem at times somewhat distant from you, through the gray mist of my own moods, I am never far; my thoughts always circle around you. Friedrich Nietzsche
TODAY'S ALLEGED MOB GUY
Meyer Lansky
Lansky, Meyer: Mob leader, gambler. Born Meier Suchowljansky. Born August 28, 1900 in Grodno Poland. Parent were Max and Yetta. Died January 15, 1983. Lansky always said that his earliest memories were of ceaseless assaults on the Jewish community he grew up in by the larger gentle world that surrounded them. He recalled often that as a child he could not envision a world that was violently divided between by warfare between Jews and non-Jews. That nightmare ended when the family arrived in New York, by way of Ellis Island, in 1911 when Lansky was eleven years old.
The Lansky family settled in Brooklyn and then to Manhattan's Lower East Side and by all accounts, Lansky was a law abiding teen. At some point, the story varies, Lansky met and befriended Benjamin Bugsy Siege and Lucky Luciano. During Prohibition, Lansky and Lansky, in what was called the Bugs and Meyers Mob, worked as rum running and whisky hijackers, murder for hire, gambling and burglaries. They were eventually absorbed into "Joe the Boss" Masseria Mafia operation, working under Luciano.
By 1931, Lansky was a trusted financial adviser to Luciano and was well respected for his sound judgment by the ruling Commission which he helped to form however, it is not true that he was brains behind organized crime. His one lasting contribution came after the Second World War. In all of his illegal casinos, which stretched from Cuba, Kentucky, New Orleans to Florida, there was no cheating. When a customer won, he was paid and crooked games were forbidden. It was innovative business for the times and it worked. In the next decade, it would work for Las Vegas as well.
Lansky hide most of his income, and taught other, less savvy hoods, how to hide their incomes in numbered bank accounts in Switzerland and later in Bahamian off shore accounts. Contrary to legend, Lansky didn’t discover these loop holes. Other mobsters, particulary Tony Accardo and Murray Humpreys in Chicago, had been sheltering cash outside the United States since the early 1930s.
Lansky was an early investor in the Flamingo hotel and was probably one of the prime movers behind the murder of Bugsy Seigel in 1947. He would stay invested in Vegas casinos, such as the Sands, through a series of front men until the very early 1970s.
By 1948, Lansky’s Florida paradise was turning sour. Gambling had gotten to far out of hand and the Florida state government, always lax in these issues, began to crack down because the country was changing. Millions of veterans were beginning the great American exodus south and west and Florida was booming. Gambling and gangster, no matter how benign, were bad for the states sparkling image. Lansky sold off his goldmine, the Colonial Inn, but on October 11, 1950, the Kefauver Committee called him in for severe questioning.
Lansky lost virtually everything when Fidel Castro shut down the Riviera Hotel in Havana and threw Lansky off of the island in 1960. He was not even able to recoup his loses in building the hotel, estimated to be at around $14 million dollars, an enormous amount of construction money at the time. (Most of the raw materials need to build the luxury hotel had to be imported)
Lansky health, always fragile, got worse after Cuba was lost. He developed ulcers and eventually suffered a heart attack.
In the 1970s, a rumor started that Lansky was worth at least $300 million. The truth was, towards the end of his life Lansky was supposed to have been hard pressed for cash and was having a difficult time making ends meet. His financial problems in large part started because of his inability to go legitimate at the right time. The right time in Lansky’s case would have been to follow the example of Moe Dalitz who transformed himself from a common thug to a distinguished and leading citizen in Las Vegas. For whatever reason, Lansky insisted on being a silent and illegal partner in a series of casinos. His legitimate investments, mostly in hotels and golf courses, never seemed to make any money. Desperate, in the 1960s, Lansky became involved in high-risk rackets like drug smuggling, pornography, prostitution and extortion.
Lansky's life was not a happy one. He was born into crushing poverty. His first wife suffered from severe emotional problems. His eldest son was born with cerebral palsy and grew steadily more disabled throughout his life. The federal government hounded Lansky from about 1950 until his death in 1983. During those years, he was either under investigation, under indictment or in court. The FBI, the Justice Department the IRS and the INS built case after case against him. Compounding his problems was that the Mafia could have taken anything they wanted to from him, and there was nothing he could about it.
In the early 1970s, Lansky tried to retire to Israel, moving there under the law of return. However, the federal government wanted Lansky back in the US to face charges of
skimming millions of dollars from the Flamingo casino in Las Vegas. Although the
Israeli government refused his request for permanent citizenship in 1971. The story is that when Golda Meir, who had no idea who Lansky was, had the situation explained to her, one of her aides used the word “Mafia”. At that, Meir held up her hand and said “Mafia? No Mafia. Israel has enough troubles with the Mafia.” Lansky sued but in 1972, the Israeli Supreme Court backed the government decision.
Determined not to return the indictment in the US, Lansky flew to Switzerland, Rio, Buenos Aires, Paraguay, La Paz, Lima and Panama but no country would take. The Paraguayan military government even refused to let him off of the airplane. Finally, he returned to Miami where he was served a subpoena.
Finally, in 1973, following heart surgery, Lansky went on trial in Miami and was acquitted largely because the government had no real case against him. But that was not a sticking point with the US Justice Department, which, from one generation after the next, was determined to convict Lansky of something. Lansky's last years were spent quietly at his home in Miami Beach.
Lansky, the man, was an interesting person. Once, while taking his family out to dinner at Embers restaurant in Miami Beach. A man at the table behind them was bragging how well he knew Lansky. The family knew the man had never met Meyer, who had his back to the braggart.
When the meal was over, Lansky stood and walked over to the mans table and shook his hand, asked how he was and why they man didn’t come around any more. It was that sort of gesture that made Lansky a celebrity within the retirement community in Miami.
Always a heavy smoker (Two packs of unfiltered Camel Cigarettes a day) he died of lung cancer on January 15 of 1983.
Mobster Meyer Lansky’s heirs seeking compensation for Havana hotel casino
JTA
The descendants of Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky are seeking compensation for a hotel casino in Cuba he built in the 1950s.
Talks between the United States and Cuba regarding claims by Americans to property nationalized after the Cuban revolution opened Tuesday, and Lansky’s heirs are considering filing a claim, Reuters reported Thursday.
Gary Rapoport, Lansky’s grandson, told Reuters that he, his mother and his uncle are beneficiaries of Lansky’s estate and thus are entitled to compensation from the Cuban government for the Havana hotel casino, which opened just a year before Fidel Castro took over and outlawed gambling.
Rapoport, 60, said he was raised by Lansky after his mother’s divorce.
“Trust me, I’m not looking to move down to Cuba and take over the business,” Rapoport said. “I believe my family is entitled to something.”
Rapoport, of Tampa, Florida, told Reuters he worked in Lansky’s Miami Beach hotel, the Singapore.
Lansky, who died in 1983, was described in his JTA obituary as an “acknowledged financial wizard and one-time reputed czar of organized crime in the U.S. and many points overseas.”
Over the course of his career, he was associated with such convicted racketeers as Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, both boyhood chums, as well as “Dutch” Schultz, Al Capone and Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, the “hit man” of the notorious “Murder Inc.”
But although linked to illicit gambling and other forms of vice, Lansky was never convicted of a serious crime. He went to jail only once — a two-month sentence in 1953 on a gambling conviction in Saratoga, New York.
In 1972, he sought to immigrate to Israel under its Law of Return, but his application was denied because of his criminal past.
He was the inspiration for the Hyman Roth character in the 1974 film “The Godfather: Part II,” according to Reuters. In 1998, Richard Dreyfuss portrayed him in the HBO biopic “Lansky.”
Lansky’s Havana hotel casino, now called the Hotel Riviera Habana, is still operating and its website mentions Lansky’s founding.
While noting that its “mafia and gambling vestiges were quickly scrapped,” the hotel website says the lobby “still reflects elements typical of the era.”
Rapoport told Reuters he is optimistic the Cuban government will consider his family’s claim.
The talks over compensation come in the aftermath of a historic agreement last year to thaw U.S.-Cuba ties. Jewish contractor Alan Gross, who had been in a Cuban prison for five years, was released as part of the deal.
THE BEAT POETS
Beat poetry evolved during the 1940s in both New York City and on the west coast, although San Francisco became the heart of the movement in the early 1950s. The end of World War II left poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso questioning mainstream politics and culture. A Brief Guide to the Beat Poets | Academy of American Poets https://www.poets.org/poetsorg
Philip Glenn Whalen
Philip Glenn Whalen (20 October 1923 – 26
June 2002) was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San
Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation.
Born in Portland, Oregon,
Whalen grew up in The Dalles from age four until he returned to Portland in
1941. He served in the US Army Air Forces during World War II. He attended Reed
College on the GI Bill.
There, he met Gary Snyder and
Lew Welch, and graduated with a BA in 1951. He read at the famous Six Gallery
reading in 1955 that marked the launch of the West Coast Beats into the public
eye.
He appears, in barely
fictionalized form, as the character "Warren Coughlin" in Jack
Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, which includes an account of that reading. In Big
Sur he is called "Ben Fagan". Whalen's poetry was featured in Donald
Allen's anthology The New American Poetry 1945-1960.
Whalen's first interest in
Eastern religions centered on Vedanta. Upon release from the army in 1946, he
visited the Vedanta Society in Portland, but did not pursue this very far,
because of the expense of attending their countryside ashram. Tibetan Buddhism
also attracted him, but he found it "unnecessarily complicated."
In 1952, Gary Snyder lent him books on Zen by
D. T. Suzuki. With Snyder, Whalen attended a study group at the Jōdo Shinshū
Berkley Buddhist Church. Ultimately, Zen became his chosen path.
Whalen spent 1966 and 1967 in
Kyoto, Japan, assisted by a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
and a job teaching English. There, he practiced zazen daily, and wrote some
forty poems and a second novel.
He moved into the San Francisco
Zen Center and became a student of Zentatsu Richard Baker in 1972. The
following year, he became a monk. He became head monk of Dharma Sangha, in
Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1984. In 1987, he received transmission from Baker, and
in 1991, he returned to San Francisco to lead the Hartford Street Zen Center
until ill health forced him to retire.
SOURDOUGH MOUNTAIN
LOOKOUT
Tsung Ping (375-443). "Now I am old and infirm.
I fear I shall no more be able to roam among the beautiful
mountains.
Clarifying my mind. I meditate on the mountain trails and wander
about only in dreams."
-in The Spirit of the Brush,
tr. by Shio Sakanishi. p. 34.
FOR KENNETH REXROTH
I always say I won't go back to the mountains
I am too old and fat there are bugs mean mules
And pancakes every morning of the world
Mr. Edward Wyman (63)
Steams along the trail ahead of us all
Moaning, "My poor old feet ache, my back
Is tired and I've got a stiff prick"
Uprooting alder shoots in the rain
Then I'm alone in a glass house on a ridge
Encircled by chiming mountains
With one sun roaring through the house all day
& the others crashing through the glass all night
Conscious even while sleeping
Morning fog in the southern gorge
Gleaming foam restoring the old sea-level
The lakes in two lights green soap and indigo
The high cirque-lake black half-open eye
Ptarmigan hunt for bugs in the snow
Bear peers through the wad at noon
Deer crowd up to see the lamp
A mouse nearly drowns in the honey
I see my bootprints mingle with deer-foot
Bear-paw mule-shoe in the dusty path to the privy
Much later I write down:
"raging, Viking sunrise
The gorgeous death of summer in the east"
(Influence of a Byronic landscape-
Bent pages exhibiting depravity of style.)
Outside the lookout I lay nude on the granite
Mountain hot September sun but inside my head
Calm dark night with all the other stars
HERACLITUS: "The Waking have one common world
But the sleeping turn aside
Each into a world of his own."
I keep telling myself what I really like
Are music, books, certain land and sea-scapes
The way light falls across them, diffusion of
Light through agate, light itself...I suppose
I'm still afraid of the dark
"Remember smart-guy there's something
Bigger something smarter than you."
Ireland's fear of unknown holies drives
My father's voice (a country neither he
Nor his great-grandfather ever saw)
A sparkly tomb a plated grave
A holy thumb beneath a wave
Everything else they hauled across Atlantic
Scattered and lost in the buffalo plains
Among these trees and mountains
From Duns Scotus to this page
A thousand years
(" . . . a dog walking on his hind legs-
not that he does it well but that he
does it at all.")
Virtually a blank except for the hypothesis
That there is more to a man
Than the contents of his jock-strap
EMPEDOCLES: "At one time all the limbs
Which are the body's portion are brought together
By Love in blooming life's high season; at another
Severed by cruel Strife, they wander each alone
By the breakers of life's sea."
Fire and pressure from the sun bear down
Bear down centipede shadow of palm-frond
A limestone lithograph-oysters and clams of stone
Half a black rock bomb displaying brilliant crystals
Fire and pressure Love and Strife bear down
Brontosaurus, look away
My sweat runs down the rock
HERACLITUS: "The transformations of fire
are, first of all, sea; and half of the sea
is earth, half whirlwind. . . .
It scatters and it gathers; it advances
and retires."
I move out of a sweaty pool
(The sea!) .
And sit up higher
on the rock
Is anything burning?
The sun itself! Dying
Pooping out, exhausted
Having produced brontosaurus, Heraclitus
This rock, me,
To no purpose
I tell you anyway (as a kind of loving) . . .
Flies & other insects come from miles around
To listen
I also address the rock, the heather,
The alpine fir
BUDDHA: "All the constituents of being are Transitory: Work
out your salvation with diligence."
(And everything, as one eminent disciple of that master Pointed
out, has been tediously complex ever since.)
There was a bird
Lived in an egg
And by ingenious chemistry
Wrought molecules of albumen
To beak and eye
Gizzard and craw
Feather and claw
My grandmother said:
"Look at them poor bed-
raggled pigeons!"
And the sign in McAlister Street:
IF YOU CAN'T COME IN
SMILE AS YOU GO BY
LOVE THE BUTCHER
I destroy myself, the universe (an egg)
And time-to get an answer:
There are a smiler, a sleeper, and a dancer
We repeat our conversation in the glittering dark
Floating beside the sleeper.
The child remarks, "You knew it all the time."
I: "I keep forgetting that the smiler is
Sleeping; the sleeper, dancing."
From Sauk Lookout two years before
Some of the view was down the Skagit
To Puget Sound: From above the lower ranges,
Deep in forest-lighthouses on clear nights.
This year's rock is a spur from the main range
Cuts the valley in two and is broken
By the river; Ross Dam repairs the break,
Makes trolley buses run
Through the streets of dim Seattle far away.
I'm surrounded by mountains here
A circle of 108 beads, originally seeds
of ficus religiosa
Bo-Tree
A circle, continuous, one odd bead
Larger than the rest and bearing
A tassel (hair-tuft) (the man who sat
under the tree)
In the center of the circle,
A void, an empty figure containing
All that's multiplied;
Each bead a repetition, a world
Of ignorance and sleep.
Today is the day the goose gets cooked
Day of liberation for the crumbling flower
Knobcone pinecone in the flames
Brandy in the sun
Which, as I said, will disappear
Anyway it'll be invisible soon
Exchanging places with stars now in my head
To be growing rice in China through the night.
Magnetic storms across the solar plains
Make Aurora Borealis shimmy bright
Beyond the mountains to the north.
Closing the lookout in the morning
Thick ice on the shutters
Coyote almost whistling on a nearby ridge
The mountain is THERE (between two lakes)
I brought back a piece of its rock
Heavy dark-honey color
With a seam of crystal, some of the quartz
Stained by its matrix
Practically indestructible
A shift from opacity to brilliance
(The Zenbos say, "Lightning-flash & flint-spark")
Like the mountains where it was made
What we see of the world is the mind's
Invention and the mind
Though stained by it, becoming
Rivers, sun, mule-dung, flies-
Can shift instantly
A dirty bird in a square time
Gone
Gone
REALLY gone
Into the cool
O MAMA
Like they say, "Four times up,
Three times down." I'm still on the mountain.
AND NOW, A BEATLES BREAK
Sculpture this and Sculpture that
MISH MOSH..........................................
Mish Mash: noun \ˈmish-ˌmash, -ˌmäsh\ A : hodgepodge, jumble “The painting was just a mishmash of colors and abstract shapes as far as we could tell”. Origin Middle English & Yiddish; Middle English mysse masche, perhaps reduplication of mash mash; Yiddish mish-mash, perhaps reduplication of mishn to mix. First Known Use: 15th century
DON'T YOU JUST LOVE POP ART?
A Handy Guide to Pop Master Roy Lichtenstein
By Sehba Mohammad on February 2,
2015
Most people instantly recognize
pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s blown-up reproductions of comic strips and
advertisements, populated by hard-edged figures and made up of hundreds of
Ben-Day dots. Aside from aficionados, many don’t know much else about the painter,
sculptor, and filmmaker, who over the course of his three-decade career became
one of pop art’s leading figures, creating a style that was smart, original,
fun, and accessible. To give some insight we’ve put together a handy list of
resources that will get you up to speed on both the artist and his artworks.
The Artist
The New York Times article was
written by art critic extraordinaire Holland Cotter in lieu of the 2012
exhibition Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective at the National Gallery of Art.
The write-up touches upon the pop icon’s beginnings at Manhattan’s Art Students
League and his inclusion in famed dealer Leo Castelli’s stable. It also goes
into depth about the artist’s evolution from depictions of cartoon characters
to art historical homages.
The Life and Art of Roy
Lichtenstein
The 49-minute documentary mainly
comprises of a revealing interview with Lichtenstein, interspersed with
narrations about the artist’s life and additional interviews with people close
to the artist including his gallerist, Leo Castelli. The film reveals intricate
details about the artist’s subject matter and practice.
“Crash! Bang! Boom! It’s Roy!” By
David Bowie
Interview Magazine
The conversation between pop
legends, Bowie and Lichtenstein, reveals the lighter side of the painter, who
reveals his motives behind using Mickey Mouse in his early works, referring to
the cartoon character as so American and anti art. Bowie’s questions range from
technical: “why do you feel that a romantic or emotional situation needs to be
represented mechanically?” to more broad ranged: “does the general public know
when it’s looking at art?” Lichtenstein responds to all of them in his
characteristic straightforward and causal manner.
The Artworks
The Museum Syndicate website has
a representative selection of Lichtenstein’s artwork. They include his iconic
’60s romantic comic book works, such as Hopeless (1963), depicting a teary eyed
dejected woman, as well as his ’70s pieces, rife with art historical
references. The site also contains a few of his later, abstract works such as
Water Lilies with Cloudcan, painted in 1992, five years before he died.
Public Sculptures/ Public Murals
The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation
was established a few years after the artist died to continue his legacy. The
foundation websites contains a comprehensive list of the artist’s public works
located all over the country, and world. They run the gamut from an aluminum
sculpture of a house at the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea
to a 6-by-53-foot canvas installed in the New York City subway station.
Roy Lichtenstein: Sculpture and
Drawings
Although he was famous for his
paintings Lichtenstein also created many sculptures and drawings. In fact the
artist was trained in classical drawings, and used the medium throughout his
life for private records and to workout the details of his paintings. The
Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC held the first retrospective of the
artist’s sculpture and drawings in 1999. The website allows you to tour the show
via images.
Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective
(2012)
The book Roy Lichtenstein: A
Retrospective, gives a more thorough overview of Lichtenstein’s work. Written
and compiled by curatorial genius James Rondeau, it examines the pop master’s
entire oeuvre, featuring 130 paintings and sculptures, along with lesser known
drawings and collages. It includes essays by historian Yve-Alain Bois, curator
Chrissie Iles, and scholar Stephen Little. However, what really adds gravitas
to the book is a complete chronology of the artist work, compiled by the
Lichtenstein Foundation.
DON’T WORRY-BE HAPPY
HERE'S PLEASANT POEM FOR YOU TO ENJOY................
"Noah,"
by Roy Daniells
They gathered around and told
him not to do it,
They formed a committee and
tried to take control,
They cancelled his building
permit and they stole
His plans. I sometimes wonder
he got through it.
He told them wrath was coming,
they would rue it,
He begged them to believe the
tides would roll,
He offered them passage to his
destined goal,
A new world. They were finished
and he knew it.
All to no end.
And then the rain began.
A spatter at first that barely
wet the soil,
Then showers, quick rivulets
lacing the town,
Then deluge universal. The old
man
Arthritic from his years of
scorn and toil
Leaned from the admiral's walk
and watched them drown.
Roy Daniells, CC (April 6, 1902
– April 13, 1979) was a Canadian poetry professor. He helped build the
University of British Columbia's creative writing department and fostered the
careers of several major Canadian writers.
Daniells was born in London (UK) on April 6,
1902, but received the bulk of his education in Canada following his family's
relocation to Victoria, BC in 1910. He attended University of British Columbia
(UBC) and University of Toronto, receiving a Ph.D. from the latter in 1936.
Thereafter, he worked at the University of Manitoba, heading its English
department until 1946 when he took a position at his alma mater UBC. When
Garnet Sedgewick retired in 1948, Daniells became department head, holding that
post until 1965. During that time, he helped establish a Creative Writing
Department at UBC and also promoted the university's funding of studies in
Canadian Literature.
In 1965, Daniells was named the first
University Professor of English Language and Literature. Daniells helped the
writing careers of Margaret Avison, Earle Birney, Joy Coghill, Daryl Duke,
Roderick Haig-Brown, Eli Mandel, Margaret Laurence, Eric Nicol, Sheila Watson,
Phyllis Webb, Adele Wiseman, and George Woodcock, among others. He retired in
1974.
As an academic, Daniells had broad focus,
specializing in John Milton and seventeenth century English literature, but
also published widely on Canadian literature and history, including the 1969
volume Alexander Mackenzie and the North West (Great Travellers Series, London,
Faber and Faber). He was also a poet with two published volumes.
I LOVE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS FROM FILM
WHY THE WORLD NEEDS EDITORS..........
THE ART OF PULP
THE ART OF WAR............
BLOGLAPEDIA’S BLOGS
ARCHITECTURE
Architecture
for the blog of it
http://architecturefortheblogofit.blogspot.com/
THE ARTS
Art
for the Blog of It
http://artfortheblogofit.blogspot.com/
Art
for the Pop of it
http://artforthepopofit.blogspot.com/
Photography
for the blog of it
http://photographyfortheblogofit.blogspot.com/
Music
for the Blog of it
http://musicfortheblogofit.blogspot.com/
Sculpture
this and Sculpture that
http://sculpturethisandsculpturethat.blogspot.com/
The
art of War (Propaganda art through the ages)
http://theartofwarcleverhuh.blogspot.com/
Album
Art (Photographic arts)
http://albumartsocheesyitsgood.blogspot.com/
Pulp
Fiction Trash (The art of Pulp Fiction covers)
http://pulpfictiontrash.blogspot.com/
Admit
it, you want to Read this Book (The art of Pulp Fiction covers)
http://goaheadadmitityouwanttoread.blogspot.com/
FILM
The
Godfather Trilogy BlogSpot
http://thegodfathertrilogyblogspot.blogspot.com/
On
the Waterfront: The Making of a great American Film
http://onthewaterfrontthefilm.blogspot.com/
FOOD
Absolutely
blogalicious
http://absolutelyblogalicious.blogspot.com/
The
Wee Book of Irish Recipes (Book support site)
http://theweeblogofirishrecipes.blogspot.com/
Good
chowda (New England foods)
http://goodchowda.blogspot.com/
Old
New England Recipes (Book support site)
http://oldnewenglandrecipes.blogspot.com/
And I
Love Clams (New England foods)
http://andiloveclams.blogspot.com/
In
Praise of the Rhode Island Wiener (New England foods)
http://inpraiseoftherhodeislandwiener.blogspot.com/
Wicked
Cool New England Recipes (New England foods)
http://whickedcoolnewenglandrecipes.blogspot.com
Old
New England Recipes (New England foods)
http://oldnewenglandrecipes.blogspot.com
FOSTER CARE
Foster Care new and Updates
Aging out of the system
Murder, Death and Abuse in the Foster
Care system
Angel and Saints in the Foster
Care System
The Foster Children’s Blogs
Foster Care Legislation
The Foster Children’s Bill of
Right
Foster Kids own Story
The Adventures of Foster Kid.
HEALTH
Me
vs. Diabetes (Diabetes education site)
http://mevsdiabetes-bloglapedia.blogspot.com/
HISTORY
The
Quotable Helen Keller
http://thequotablehelenkeller.blogspot.com/
Teddy
Roosevelt's Letters to his children (Book support site)
http://teddyrooseveltsletterstohischildren.blogspot.com/
The
Quotable Machiavelli (Book support site)
http://thequotablemachiavelli.blogspot.com/
HUMOR
Whatever
you do, don't laugh
http://whateveryoudodontlaugh.blogspot.com/
The
Quotable Grouch Marx
http://thequotablegrouchmarx.blogspot.com/
IRISH-AMERICANA
A Big
Blog of Irish Literature
http://abigblogofirishliterature.blogspot.com/
The
Wee Blog of Irish Jokes (Book support blog)
http://theweeblogofirishjokes.blogspot.com/
The
Wee Blog of Irish Recipes
http://theweeblogofirishrecipes.blogspot.com/
The
Irish American Gangster
http://irishamericangangsters.blogspot.com
The
Irish in their Own Words
http://theirishintheirownwords.blogspot.com/
When
Washington Was Irish
http://whenwashingtonwasirish.blogspot.com/
The
Wee Book of Irish Recipes (Book support site)
http://theweeblogofirishrecipes.blogspot.com/
LITERATURE
Following
Fitzgerald
http://followingfitzgerald.blogspot.com/
Shakespeare
http://shakespeareinamericanenglish.blogspot.com/
The
Blogable Robert Frost
http://theblogablerobertfrost.blogspot.com/
Charles
Dickens
http://charlesdickensfan.blogspot.com/
The
Beat Poets of the Forever Generation
http://thebeatspoetsoftheforevergenera.blogspot.com/
Holden
Caulfield Blog Spot
http://holdencaulfieldblogspot.blogspot.com/
The
Quotable Oscar Wilde
http://thequotableoscarwilde.blogspot.com/
NEW ENGLAND BLOGS
The
Quotable Thoreau
http://thequotablethenrydavidthoreau.blogspot.com/
Old
New England Recipes
http://oldnewenglandrecipes.blogspot.com
Wicked
Cool New England Recipes
http://whickedcoolnewenglandrecipes.blogspot.com
Emerson
http://emersonsaidit.blogspot.com/
The
New England Mafia
http://thenewenglandmafia.blogspot.com/
And I
Love Clams
http://andiloveclams.blogspot.com/
In
Praise of the Rhode Island Wiener
http://inpraiseoftherhodeislandwiener.blogspot.com/
Watch
Hill
http://watchhillwesterly.blogspot.com/
York
Beach
http://yorkbeachfortheblogofit.blogspot.com/
The
Connecticut History Blog
http://connecticuthistory.blogspot.com/
The
Connecticut Irish
http://theconnecticutirish.blogspot.com/
Good
chowda
http://goodchowda.blogspot.com/
NOSTALGIA
God,
How I hated the 70s
http://godhowihatedthe70s.blogspot.com/
Child
of the Sixties Forever
http://childofthesixtiesforeverandever.blogspot.com/
The
Kennedy’s in the 60’s
http://thekennedysinthe60s.blogspot.com/
Music
of the Sixties Forever
http://musicofthesixtiesforever.blogspot.com/
Elvis
and Nixon at the White House (Book support site)
http://elvisandnixonatthewhitehouse.blogspot.com/
Beatles
Fan Forever
http://beatlesfanforever.blogspot.com/
Year
One, 1955
http://yearone1955.blogspot.com/
Robert
Kennedy in His Own Words
The
1980s were fun
http://the1980swereokayactually.blogspot.com/
The
1990s. The last decade.
http://1990sthelastdecade.blogspot.com/
ORGANIZED CRIME
The
Russian Mafia
http://russianmafiagangster.blogspot.com/
The
American Jewish Gangster
http://theamericanjewishgangster.blogspot.com/
The
Mob in Hollywood
http://themobinhollywood.blogspot.com/
We
Only Kill Each Other
http://weonlykilleachother.blogspot.com/
Early
Gangsters of New York City
http://earlygangstersofnewyorkcity.blogspot.com/
Al
Capone: Biography of a self-made Man
http://alcaponethebiographyofaselfmademan.blogspot.com/
The
Life and World of Al Capone
http://thelifeandworldofalcapone.blogspot.com/
The
Salerno Report
http://salernoreportmafiaandurderjohnkennedy.blogspot.com/
Guns
and Glamour
http://gunsandglamourthechicagomobahistory.blogspot.com/
The
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
http://thesaintvalentinesdaymassacre.blogspot.com/
Mob
Testimony
http://mobtestimony.blogspot.com/
Recipes
we would Die For
http://recipeswewoulddiefor.blogspot.com/
The
Prohibition in Pictures
http://theprohibitioninpictures.blogspot.com/
The
Mob in Pictures
http://themobinpictures.blogspot.com/
The
Mob in Vegas
http://themobinvegasinpictures.blogspot.com/
The
Irish American Gangster
http://irishamericangangsters.blogspot.com
Roger
Touhy Gangster
http://rogertouhygangsters.blogspot.com/
Chicago’s
Mob Bosses
http://chicagosmobbossesfromaccardoto.blogspot.com/
Chicago
Gang Land: It Happened Here
http://chicagoganglandithappenedhere.blogspot.com/
Whacked:
One Hundred years of Murder in Gangland
http://whackedonehundredyearsmurderand.blogspot.com/
The
Mob Across America
http://themobacrossamerica.blogspot.com/
Mob
Cops, Lawyers and Front Men
http://mobcopslawyersandinformantsand.blogspot.com/
Shooting
the Mob: Dutch Schultz
http://shootingthemobdutchschultz.blogspot.com/
Bugsy&
His Flamingo: The Testimony of Virginia Hill
http://bugsyandvirginiahill.blogspot.com/
After
Valachi. Hearings before the US Senate on Organized Crime
http://aftervalachi.blogspot.com/
Mob
Buster: Report of Special Agent Virgil Peterson to the Kefauver Committee (Book
support site)
http://virgilpetersonmobbuster.blogspot.com/
The
US Government’s Timeline of Organized Crime (Book support site)
http://timelineoforganizedcrime.blogspot.com/
The
Kefauver Organized Crime Hearings (Book support site)
http://thekefauverorganizedcrimehearings.blogspot.com/
Joe
Valachi's testimony on the Mafia (Book support site)
http://joevalachistestimonyonthemafia.blogspot.com/
Mobsters
in the News
http://mobstersinthenews.blogspot.com/
Shooting
the Mob: Dead Mobsters (Book support site)
http://deadmobsters.blogspot.com/
The
Stolen Years Full Text (Roger Touhy)
http://thestolenyearsfulltext.blogspot.com/
Mobsters
in Black and White
http://mobstersinblackandwhite.blogspot.com/
Mafia
Gangsters, Wiseguys and Goodfellas
http://mafiagangsterswiseguysandgoodfellas.blogspot.com/
Whacked:
One Hundred Years of Murder and Mayhem in the Chicago Mob (Book support site)
http://whackedonehundredyearsmurderand.blogspot.com/
Gangland
Gaslight: The Killing of Rosy Rosenthal (Book support site)
http://ganglandgaslightrosyrosenthal.blogspot.com/
The
Best of the Mob Files Series (Book support site)
http://thebestofthemobfilesseries.blogspot.com/
PHILOSOPHY
It’s
All Greek Mythology to me
http://itsallgreekmythologytome.blogspot.com/
PSYCHOLOGY
Psychologically
Relevant
http://psychologicallyrelevant.blogspot.com/
SNOBBERY
The
Rarifieid Tribe
http://therarifiedtribe.blogspot.com/
Perfect
Behavior
http://perfectbehavior.blogspot.com/
TRAVEL
The
Upscale Traveler
http://theupscaletraveler.blogspot.com/
TRIVIA
The
Mish Mosh Blog
http://theupscaletraveler.blogspot.com/
WASHINGTON DC
DC
Behind the Monuments
http://dcbehindthemonuments.blogspot.com/
Washington
Oddities
http://washingtonoddities.blogspot.com/
When
Washington Was Irish
http://whenwashingtonwasirish.blogspot.com/
FROM LLR BOOKS. COM
Litchfield Literary Books. A really small company
run by writers.
AMERICAN HISTORY
The Day
Nixon Met Elvis
Paperback 46 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Nixon-Met-elvis/
Theodore
Roosevelt: Letters to his Children. 1903-1918
Paperback 194 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Theodore-Roosevelt-Letters-Children-1903-1918/dp/
THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND CIVILIZATIONS
The Works
of Horace
Paperback 174 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Works-Horace-Richard-Willoughby/
The
Quotable Greeks
Paperback 234 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Greeks-Richard-W-Willoughby
The
Quotable Epictetus
Paperback 142 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Epictetus-Golden-Sayings
Quo
Vadis: A narrative of the time of Nero
Paperback 420 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quo-Vadis-Narrative-Time-Nero
CHILDRENS
BOOKS
The
Porchless Pumpkin: A Halloween Story for Children
A Halloween play for young children. By consent of the author,
this play may be performed, at no charge, by educational institutions,
neighborhood organizations and other not-for-profit-organizations.
A fun story with a moral
“I believe that Denny O'Day is an American treasure and this
little book proves it. Jack is a pumpkin who happens to be very small, by
pumpkins standards and as a result he goes unbought in the pumpkin patch on
Halloween eve, but at the last moment he is given his chance to prove that just
because you're small doesn't mean you can't be brave. Here is the point that I
found so wonderful, the book stresses that while size doesn't matter when it
comes to courage...ITS OKAY TO BE SCARED....as well. I think children need to
hear that, that's its okay to be unsure because life is a ongoing lesson isn't
it?”
Paperback: 42 pages
http://www.amazon.com/OLANTERN-PORCHLESS-PUMPKIN-Halloween-Children
It's Not
All Right to be a Foster Kid....no matter what they tell you: Tweet the books
contents
Paperback 94 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Right-Foster-Kid-no-matter-what
From the Author
I spent my childhood, from age seven through seventeen, in
foster care. Over the course of those
ten years, many decent, well-meaning, and concerned people told me, "It's
okay to be foster kid."
In saying that, those very good people meant to encourage me,
and I appreciated their kindness then, and all these many decades later, I
still appreciate their good intentions. But as I was tossed around the foster
care system, it began to dawn on me that they were wrong. It was not all right to be a foster kid.
During my time in the system, I was bounced every eighteen
months from three foster homes to an orphanage to a boy's school and to a group
home before I left on my own accord at age seventeen.
In the course of my stay in foster care, I was severely beaten
in two homes by my "care givers" and separated from my four siblings
who were also in care, sometimes only blocks away from where I was living.
I left the system rather than to wait to age out, although the
effects of leaving the system without any family, means, or safety net of any
kind, were the same as if I had aged out. I lived in poverty for the first part
of my life, dropped out of high school, and had continuous problems with the
law.
Today, almost nothing
about foster care has changed. Exactly
what happened to me is happening to some other child, somewhere in America,
right now. The system, corrupt, bloated,
and inefficient, goes on, unchanging and secretive.
Something has gone wrong in a system that was originally a
compassionate social policy built to improve lives but is now a definitive
cause in ruining lives. Due to gross
negligence, mismanagement, apathy, and greed, mostly what the foster care
system builds are dangerous consequences. Truly, foster care has become our
epic national disgrace and a nightmare for those of us who have lived through
it.
Yet there is a suspicion among some Americans that foster care
costs too much, undermines the work ethic, and is at odds with a satisfying
life. Others see foster care as a part
of the welfare system, as legal plunder of the public treasuries.
None of that is true;
in fact, all that sort of thinking does is to blame the victims. There is not a single child in the system who
wants to be there or asked to be there.
Foster kids are in foster care because they had nowhere else to go. It's that simple. And believe me, if those kids could get out
of the system and be reunited with their parents and lead normal, healthy
lives, they would. And if foster care is a sort of legal plunder of the public
treasuries, it's not the kids in the system who are doing the plundering.
We need to end this
needless suffering. We need to end it
because it is morally and ethically wrong and because the generations to come
will not judge us on the might of our armed forces or our technological
advancements or on our fabulous wealth.
Rather, they will judge
us, I am certain, on our compassion for those who are friendless, on our
decency to those who have nothing and on our efforts, successful or not, to
make our nation and our world a better place.
And if we cannot accomplish those things in the short time allotted to
us, then let them say of us "at least they tried."
You can change the tragedy of foster care and here's how to do
it. We have created this book so that
almost all of it can be tweeted out by you to the world. You have the power to improve the lives of
those in our society who are least able to defend themselves. All you need is the will to do it.
If the American people,
as good, decent and generous as they are, knew what was going on in foster
care, in their name and with their money, they would stop it. But, generally speaking, although the public
has a vague notion that foster care is a mess, they don't have the complete picture.
They are not aware of the human, economic and social cost that the
mismanagement of the foster care system puts on our nation.
By tweeting the facts laid out in this work, you can help to
change all of that. You can make a
difference. You can change things for
the better.
We can always change the future for a foster kid; to make it
better ...you have the power to do that. Speak up (or tweet out) because it's
your country. Don't depend on the
"The other guy" to speak up for these kids, because you are the other
guy.
We cannot build a future for foster children, but we can build
foster children for the future and the time to start that change is today.
No time
to say Goodbye: Memoirs of a life in foster
Paperbook 440 Books
http://www.amazon.com/No-Time-Say-Goodbye-Memoir
BOOKS ABOUT FILM
On the
Waterfront: The Making of a Great American Film
Paperback: 416 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Waterfront-Making-Great-American-Film/
BOOKS ABOUT GHOSTS AND THE SUPERNATUAL
Scotish
Ghost Stories
Paperback 186 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Scottish-Ghost-Stories-Elliott-ODonell
HUMOR BOOKS
The Book
of funny odd and interesting things people say
Paperback: 278 pages
http://www.amazon.com/book-funny-interesting-things-people
The Wee
Book of Irish Jokes
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Series-Irish-Jokes-ebook
Perfect
Behavior: A guide for Ladies and Gentlemen in all Social Crises
http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Behavior-Ladies-Gentlemen-Social
BOOKS ABOUT THE 1960s
You Don’t
Need a Weatherman. Underground 1969
Paperback 122 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Weatherman-Notes-Weatherman-Underground-1969
Baby
Boomers Guide to the Beatles Songs of the Sixties
Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/Boomers-Guide-Beatles-Songs-Sixties/
Baby
Boomers Guide to Songs of the 1960s
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Boomers-Guide-Songs-1960s
IRISH- AMERICANA
The
Connecticut Irish
Paper back 140 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Connecticut-Irish-Catherine-F-Connolly
The Wee Book of Irish Jokes
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Series-Irish-Jokes-ebook/
The Wee
Book of Irish Recipes
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wee-Book-Irish-Recipes/
The Wee Book of the American-Irish Gangsters
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wee-Book-Irish-American-Gangsters/
The Wee book of Irish Blessings...
http://www.amazon.com/Series-Blessing-Proverbs-Toasts-ebook/
The Wee
Book of the American Irish in Their Own Words
http://www.amazon.com/Book-American-Irish-Their-Words/
Everything
you need to know about St. Patrick
Paperback 26 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Need-About-Saint-Patrick
A Reading
Book in Ancient Irish History
Paperback 147pages
http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Book-Ancient-Irish-History
The Book
of Things Irish
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Things-Irish-William-Tuohy/
Poets and
Dreamer; Stories translated from the Irish
Paperback 158 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Poets-Dreamers-Stories-Translated-Irish/
The
History of the Great Irish Famine: Abridged and Illustrated
Paperback 356 pages
http://www.amazon.com/History-Great-Irish-Famine-Illustrated/
BOOKS ABOUT NEW ENGLAND
The New
England Mafia
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-England-Mafia-ebook/
Wicked
Good New England Recipes
http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Good-New-England-Recipes/
The
Connecticut Irish
Paper back 140 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Connecticut-Irish-Catherine-F-Connolly
The Twenty-Fifth
Regiment Connecticut Volunteers
Paperback 64 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Fifth-Regiment-Connecticut-Volunteers-Rebellion
The Life
of James Mars
Paperback 54 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Life-James-Mars-Slave-Connecticut
Stories
of Colonial Connecticut
Paperback 116 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Colonial-Connnecticut-Caroline-Clifford
What they
Say in Old New England
Paperback 194 pages
http://www.amazon.com/What-they-say-New-England/
BOOK ABOUT ORGANIZED CRIME
Chicago
Organized Crime
Chicago-Mob-Bosses
http://www.amazon.com/Chicagos-Mob-Bosses-Accardo-ebook
The Mob
Files: It Happened Here: Places of Note in Chicago gangland 1900-2000
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mob-Files-1900-2000-ebook
An
Illustrated Chronological History of the Chicago Mob. Time Line 1837-2000
http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Chronological-History-Chicago-1837-2000/
Mob
Buster: Report of Special Agent Virgil Peterson to the Kefauver Committee
http://www.amazon.com/Mob-Buster-Peterson-Committee-ebook/
The Mob
Files. Guns and Glamour: The Chicago Mob. A History. 1900-2000
http://www.amazon.com/Mob-Files-Guns-Glamour-ebook/
Shooting
the Mob: Organized crime in photos. Crime Boss Tony Accardo
http://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Mob-Organized-photos-Accardo/
Shooting
the Mob: Organized Crime in Photos: The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre.
http://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Mob-Organized-Valentines-Massacre
The Life
and World of Al Capone in Photos
http://www.amazon.com/Life-World-Al-Capone
AL
CAPONE: The Biography of a Self-Made Man.: Revised from the 0riginal 1930
edition.Over 200 new photographs
Paperback: 340 pages
http://www.amazon.com/CAPONE-Biography-Self-Made-Over-photographs
Whacked.
One Hundred Years Murder and Mayhem in the Chicago Outfit
Paperback: 172 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Whacked-Hundred-Murder-Mayhem-Chicago/
Las
Vegas Organized Crime
The Mob
in Vegas
http://www.amazon.com/Mob-Files-Vegas-ebook
Bugsy
& His Flamingo: The Testimony of Virginia Hill
http://www.amazon.com/Bugsy-His-Flamingo-Testimony-Virginia/
Testimony
by Mobsters Lewis McWillie, Joseph Campisi and Irwin Weiner (The Mob Files
Series)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Kennedy-Assassination-Ruby-Testimony-ebook
Rattling
the Cup on Chicago Crime.
Paperback 264 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Rattling-Cup-Chicago-Crime-Abridged
The Life
and Times of Terrible Tommy O’Connor.
Paperback 94 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Terrible-Tommy-OConnor
The Mob,
Sam Giancana and the overthrow of the Black Policy Racket in Chicago
Paperback 200 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Giancana-ovethrow-Policy-Rackets-Chicago
When
Capone’s Mob Murdered Roger Touhy. In Photos
Paperback 234 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Capones-Murdered-Roger-Touhy-photos
Organized
Crime in Hollywood
The Mob in Hollywood
http://www.amazon.com/Mob-Files-Hollywood-ebook/
The Bioff
Scandal
Paperback 54 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Bioff-Scandal-Shakedown-Hollywood-Studios
Organized
Crime in New York
Joe Pistone’s war on the mafia
http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Petrosinos-War-Mafia-Files/
Mob
Testimony: Joe Pistone, Michael Scars DiLeonardo, Angelo Lonardo and others
http://www.amazon.com/Mob-Testimony-DiLeonardo-testimony-Undercover/
The New
York Mafia: The Origins of the New York Mob
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-York-Mafia-Origins
The New
York Mob: The Bosses
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-York-Mob-Bosses/
Organized
Crime 25 Years after Valachi. Hearings before the US Senate
http://www.amazon.com/Organized-Crime-Valachi-Hearings-ebook
Shooting
the mob: Dutch Schultz
http://www.amazon.com/Shooting-Mob-Organized-Photographs-Schultz
Gangland
Gaslight: The Killing of Rosy Rosenthal. (Illustrated)
http://www.amazon.com/Gangland-Gaslight-Killing-Rosenthal-Illustrated/
Early
Street Gangs and Gangsters of New York City
Paperback 382 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Early-Street-Gangs-Gangsters-York
THE RUSSIAN MOBS
The
Russian Mafia in America
http://www.amazon.com/The-Russian-Mafia-America-ebook/
The
Threat of Russian Organzied Crime
Paperback 192 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Threat-Russian-Organized-Crime-photographs-ebook
Organized
Crime/General
Best of
Mob Stories
http://www.amazon.com/Files-Series-Illustrated-Articles-Organized-Crime/
Best of
Mob Stories Part 2
http://www.amazon.com/Series-Illustrated-Articles-Organized-ebook/
Illustrated-Book-Prohibition-Gangsters
http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Book-Prohibition-Gangsters-ebook
Mob
Recipes to Die For. Meals and Mobsters in Photos
http://www.amazon.com/Recipes-For-Meals-Mobsters-Photos
More Mob
Recipes to Die For. Meals and Mobs
http://www.amazon.com/More-Recipes-Meals-Mobsters-Photos
The New
England Mafia
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-England-Mafia-ebook
Shooting
the mob. Organized crime in photos. Dead Mobsters, Gangsters and Hoods.
http://www.amazon.com/Shooting-mob-Organized-photos-Mobsters-Gangsters/
The
Salerno Report: The Mafia and the Murder of President John F. Kennedy
http://www.amazon.com/The-Salerno-Report-President-ebook/
The
Mob Files: Mob Wars. "We only kill each other"
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mob-Files-Wars-other/
The Mob
across America
http://www.amazon.com/The-Files-Across-America-ebook/
The US
Government’s Time Line of Organzied Crime 1920-1987
http://www.amazon.com/GOVERNMENTS-ORGANIZED-1920-1987-Illustrated-ebook/
Early
Street Gangs and Gangsters of New York City: 1800-1919. Illustrated
http://www.amazon.com/Gangsters-1800-1919-Illustrated-Street-ebook/
The Mob
Files: Mob Cops, Lawyers and Informants and Fronts
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mob-Files-Informants-ebook/
Gangster
Quotes: Mobsters in their own words. Illustrated
Paperback: 128 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Gangsters-Quotes-Mobsters-words-Illustrated/
The Book
of American-Jewish Gangsters: A Pictorial History.
Paperback: 436 pages
http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-American-Jewish-Gangsters-Pictorial/
The Mob
and the Kennedy Assassination
Paperback 414 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Mob-Kennedy-Assassination-Ruby-Testimony-Mobsters
BOOKS ABOUT THE OLD WEST
The Last
Outlaw: The story of Cole Younger, by Himself
Paperback 152 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Outlaw-Story-Younger-Himself
BOOKS ON PHOTOGRAPHY
Chicago:
A photographic essay.
Paperback: 200 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Photographic-Essay-William-Thomas
STAGE PLAYS
Boomers
on a train: A ten minute play
Paperback 22 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Boomers-train-ten-minute-Play-ebook
Four
Short Plays
By John William Tuohy
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Short-Plays-William-Tuohy
Four More
Short Plays
By John William Tuohy
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Short-Plays-William-Tuohy/
High and
Goodbye: Everybody gets the Timothy Leary they deserve. A full length play
By John William Tuohy
http://www.amazon.com/High-Goodbye-Everybody-Timothy-deserve
Cyberdate.
An Everyday Love Story about Everyday People
By John William Tuohy
http://www.amazon.com/Cyberdate-Everyday-Story-People-ebook/
The
Dutchman's Soliloquy: A one Act Play based on the factual last words of
Gangster Dutch Schultz.
By John William Tuohy
http://www.amazon.com/Dutchmans-Soliloquy-factual-Gangster-Schultz/
Fishbowling
on The Last Words of Dutch Schultz: Or William S. Burroughs intersects with
Dutch Schultz
Print Length: 57 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Fishbowling-Last-Words-Dutch-Schultz-ebook/
American
Shakespeare: August Wilson in his own words. A One Act Play
By John William Tuohy
http://www.amazon.com/American-Shakespeare-August-Wilson-ebook
She
Stoops to Conquer
http://www.amazon.com/She-Stoops-Conquer-Oliver-Goldsmith/
The Seven
Deadly Sins of Gilligan’s Island: A ten minute play
Print Length: 14 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Deadly-Gilligans-Island-minute-ebook/
BOOKS ABOUT VIRGINIA
OUT OF
CONTROL: An Informal History of the Fairfax County Police
http://www.amazon.com/Control-Informal-History-Fairfax-Police/
McLean
Virginia. A short informal history
http://www.amazon.com/McLean-Virginia-Short-Informal-History/
THE QUOTABLE SERIES
The
Quotable Emerson: Life lessons from the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Over 300
quotes
http://www.amazon.com/The-Quotable-Emerson-lessons-quotes
The
Quotable John F. Kennedy
http://www.amazon.com/The-Quotable-John-F-Kennedy/
The
Quotable Oscar Wilde
http://www.amazon.com/The-Quotable-Oscar-Wilde-lessons/
The
Quotable Machiavelli
http://www.amazon.com/The-Quotable-Machiavelli-Richard-Thayer/
The
Quotable Confucius: Life Lesson from the Chinese Master
http://www.amazon.com/The-Quotable-Confucius-Lesson-Chinese/
The
Quotable Henry David Thoreau
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Henry-Thoreau-Quotables-ebook
The
Quotable Robert F. Kennedy
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Robert-F-Kennedy-Illustrated/
The
Quotable Writer: Writers on the Writers Life
http://www.amazon.com/The-Quotable-Writer-Quotables-ebook
The words
of Walt Whitman: An American Poet
Paperback: 162 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Words-Walt-Whitman-American-Poet
Gangster
Quotes: Mobsters in their own words. Illustrated
Paperback: 128 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Gangsters-Quotes-Mobsters-words-Illustrated/
The
Quotable Popes
Paperback 66 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Popes-Maria-Conasenti
The
Quotable Kahlil Gibran with Artwork from Kahlil Gibran
Paperback 52 pages
Kahlil Gibran, an artist, poet, and writer was born on January
6, 1883 n the north of modern-day Lebanon and in what was then part of Ottoman
Empire. He had no formal schooling in Lebanon. In 1895, the family immigrated
to the United States when Kahlil was a young man and settled in South Boston.
Gibran enrolled in an art school and was soon a member of the avant-garde
community and became especially close to Boston artist, photographer, and
publisher Fred Holland Day who encouraged and supported Gibran’s creative
projects. An accomplished artist in drawing and watercolor, Kahlil attended art
school in Paris from 1908 to 1910, pursuing a symbolist and romantic style. He
held his first art exhibition of his drawings in 1904 in Boston, at Day's
studio. It was at this exhibition, that Gibran met Mary Elizabeth Haskell, who
ten years his senior. The two formed an important friendship and love affair
that lasted the rest of Gibran’s short life. Haskell influenced every aspect of
Gibran’s personal life and career. She became his editor when he began to write
and ushered his first book into publication in 1918, The Madman, a slim volume
of aphorisms and parables written in biblical cadence somewhere between poetry
and prose. Gibran died in New York City on April 10, 1931, at the age of 48
from cirrhosis of the liver and tuberculosis.
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Kahlil-Gibran-artwork/
The
Quotable Dorothy Parker
Paperback 86 pages
The
Quotable Machiavelli
Paperback 36 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Machiavelli-Richard-L-Thayer
The
Quotable Greeks
Paperback 230 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Greeks-Richard-W-Willoughby
The
Quotabe Oscar Wilde
Paperback 24 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Oscar-Wilde-lessons-words/
The
Quotable Helen Keller
Paperback 66 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Helen-Keller-Richard-Willoughby
The Art
of War: Sun Tzu
Paperback 60 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Confucius-Lesson-Chinese-Quotables-ebook
The
Quotable Shakespeare
Paperback 54 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Shakespeare-Richard-W-Willoughby
The
Quotable Gorucho Marx
Paperback 46 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Groucho-Marx-Devon-Alexander