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Showing posts with the label Thomas Hunt

Found! Long-Lost Photo Of Prohibition Era Mob Boss Salvatore Maranzano

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Thomas Hunt is among America's most preeminent mob historians, and anyone interested in anything Cosa Nostra-related should be familiar with his work, and that assortment would include Tom’s blog, his Informer journal, and his books (links to all follow below). We are popping this up belatedly (a mild health issue knocked us out of the game last week, but we’re poised to make up for lost time). Tom also is one of several who blog at The Writers Of Wrongs.com site; Christian Cipollini, about whom we've written , and Patrick Downey, who's written great books, including on Legs Diamond , also blog there. Cover of Informer, with historical story on one of the American mob's founding fathers.... Researchers have long been bothered by the lack of a photograph of Prohibition Era Mafia "boss of bosses" Salvatore Maranzano. But an image of the underworld chief, lost for nearly 88 years, was recently rediscovered. The remarkable find will be featured in an Au...

This Holiday, We Recognize the Generosity of Oldtime Wiseguys

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Story contains link to PDF of Apalachin dossier  "Christmas is a special time for most people, happy for those who have and sad for those who have not," Louis DiVita told me in a recent conversation. A house near this intersection in New Jersey has an interesting history... He lost a beloved relative only a few days before Christmas Eve, and all these years later, the holiday still holds a blending of different emotions for him. "As a child our celebrations always recognized the previously deceased, including my great Uncle Benedetto Angelo “Buffalo Bill” Palmeri who died on December 21, 1932," he said. "Buffalo Bill tried to ensure the less fortunate had Christmas Dinner," Louis said of his grandfather's brother. Benedetto Angelo Palmeri died of natural causes at the relatively young age of 54. In a story on the Writers of Wrongs blog by Thomas Hunt, Palmeri is described as a "longtime leader in the Mafia of Western New York...

Murder Inc. Stoolie "Kid Twist" Reles Met Death 75 Years Ago

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75 years ago today Abe Reles went out the window... The Writers of Wrong is the name of a blog I discovered today; I knew it was a more-than-credible source once I saw the names attached to it... Christian Cipollini. .. Thomas Hunt ... and Patrick Downey (who authored a book on Legs Diamond I am currently enjoying immensely. And speaking of books, Cip and Downey both contributed to a fictional short story compendium , Cocktail Noir: From Gangsters and Gin Joints to Gumshoes and Gimlets .) Mob historians are invited to contribute, as the blog notes : " Writers of crime history are encouraged to submit news releases; short book excerpts; event announcements; links to videos, images, websites, etc., for publication in this blog using the 'Contact Us' form at the bottom of the page ." On this date in 1941, informant Abe "Kid Twist" Reles fell to his death at the Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island. The thirty-five-year-old Reles, who had been coop...