You have to "Make your Bones" to be a made member.


Myth.

Consider through the years how many guys have been made and that at it's peak there was supposedly around five thousand members nationwide. That's a whole lotta bodies.

Jerry Angiulo who ran Boston under Ray Patriarca never personally popped anyone. He bought his way in. If I remember correctly his brother, who had to answer to Jerry, was picked up on tape grumbling about it.

Is it better and quicker to show that you're willing to clip someone? I'm sure it is and would probably make it easier to rise up the ladder. I think the biggest quality to get made is to be an earner.

The reality is that a Don makes and breaks his own rules. He can require an associate to whack someone before officially being "made," or not. Since you mentioned Patriarca, Fat Vinny Teresa in his very readable book says that the Boston Mob never officially made anyone--"they just kinda called you to The Office one day and said that was it," or something to that effect.

The Vinny Theresa book that you reference is titled "My Life In The Mafia." An excellent read. One of my favorite mob books. A part of it that has always stuck out in my mind was his telling about the horse racing business, the horse tracks, and how the mob would fix races and control certain jockeys and race tracks!

Lotta good anecdotes and Mob schemes in that book.
DC: Didn't he bad-mouth Sinatra and debunk his Mob connections?

I don't recall exactly what he said about Sinatra, ( read it a very long time ago) but now that you mention it, it does ring a bell.

And you're right on about the mob schemes revealed in that book.

If I am not mistaken, Teresa's book was only like the second tell all mob book ever written by a former mobster since The Valachi Papers. Am I correct?

I believe that's true, DC. Peter Maas' "Valachi Papers" was published in '68. Teresa's autobio appeared in '73. Martin Gosch's "Last Testament of Lucky Luciano" was published in '75.

I am sorry for hijacking this topic,but i couldn't find no "FAQ thread" so i thought i could ask this here:Is it true that Carmine Persico had once spit a bullet that entered his face?Now,i've read some other things on the internet(a woman once survived a 357 magnum wound in her head,no coma,no brain damage,no nothing)but if it's true,he's gotta be a tough guy....

Kind of makes you laugh about these "I got shot nine times" gangsta rapper types and their exaggerated stories...

I read the book about Henry Hill and I want to say called Wiseguy. The movies do make it all look good when in reality it's not. This is a very good topic to post here as people can be led to believe the life is glorified when in actuality it's anything but that.

Yeah, I love that book: Wiseguy: My Life in a Mafia Family by: Nicholas Peleggi(sp?)

David Chase, did a great job on the Sopranos in depicting the life of a newly made guy. When Christopher Molitsanti got his button, him and Adriana thought they would be in the fast lane, but as the show goes on, Chase reveals the real struggles of becoming a newly made member. Christopher had to pay for $1000 dinner tabs and was subject to other demoralizing treatment from other members. He had to kick up enough money to take care of his capo, who was Paulie Walnuts and so that his capo can kick up to the Boss. If you're at the bottom, then you're working 100 times harder in trying to earn to keep your capo and boss' pockets fat. Thats how it always was and in ways, the tradition. In the end, its all about the money. The more money you make, the more respect you get.

DUFF

on page 1, what were you talking about with the K&A gang?

you got it mixed up i think

According to Selwyn Raab, in his authoritative "The Five Families," Persico was one of those who attempted to kill Larry Gallo during the Gallo/Profaci war of 1961-63. In retaliation, Persico was shot from a passing truck (presumably by Gallo). Raab writes, "Bullets grazed his head and several slugs ripped into his left hand and arm....The episode was magnified by his supporters to bolster his reputation for toughness, claiming [emphasis added] that a slug had punctured his jaw, and that he had spat out the bullet."

"Bonnano: A Godfather's Story" movie offers a very believable case for the JFK assasination. One of my favorite mob flicks.

i saw gaspipes name pop up int his thread. has anybody read the book "Gaspipe"? i was wondering if it was worth the $25.99.

Here's a link to reviews on Amazon.com. Seems like a worthwhile read:
http://www.amazon.com/Gaspipe-Confession...8059&sr=1-1

BTW: You should post questions on books in the "Mafia Books" thread, where you're more likely to get the answer you're looking for.

i think roy demeos son pretty much summed it up in his book For The Sins Of My Father when he said ''on the screen the life of a mafioso is glamourous and exciting. In the real world the gangster is a exhausted middle aged man who comes home at dawn to a disillusioned wife and a dog dish that needs cleaning.the shiny maroon cadillac is the image the frozen body in the trunk is the reality''

That was a very well written book. Hard to have any sympathy for DeMeo after reading "Murder Machine," but his son almost brought it off.

your right he was close . i read both books at the same time trying to get both perspectives of his life

It is true Roy was a stone cold killer,the book is
quite exagerated told by a guy that was looking at life
in prison,but the cops in their infinite wisdom as also
being just as lazy pinned over 200 murders on Demeos crew,
they figured Roy was dead so what the hell,as for demeo jr.
it was very upsetting to him to read the story of his father
in a book by capeci,being told by a coke head that his father
helped many of times.Same as rise and fall,told to capeci by
sammy and some other snitches,the kids life has been ruined
but his father was quite saavy in the money end of things so
no one in the immediate family longs for a thing,he was a
great earner,just a note,the Gotti bros turned down the
contract to clip Demeo,they feared that faction of the
Gambino family,and it was no secret that the Gotti crew was
next to go after neil passed.

it might not have been 200 murders but the pile of bodies the demeo crew piled up wasn't exagerated. most crews have 1 stone cold killer. that whole original crew anthony joey henry chris and roy were all stone cold killers not to mention the link that roy had to the iceman. no one will ever know how many chopped up bodies anthonys uncle's garbage company bought to fountain ave. i think dominic montiglio exagerated more about his own importance then he did about the demeo crew. he tried to make himself look like more then just ninos collection boy. also the gottis didn't turn down the contract on roy. gene gotti was caught on a wire tap saying how hard it would be to get roy with the army of killers he had with him. castellano also spoke to frankie decicco about killing roy and eventually it was decided nino brought him into the life so he should be the one to take him out of it. although never proven nino was allegedly the one who shot roy and joey and anthony fired the shots behind each ear

I am currently reading "Excellent Cadavers" and I found an interesting theory about Lucky Luciano. Is there anyone who knows the real story behind his cooperation with the US to end WW II in Italy?

How do you like it Moltisanti? I started reading that book and just couldn't get through it, it was interesting but a little confusing and repetitive at times.

Difficult to stay focussed while reading. Literary a bit poor, too many facts and names that aren't really important.
But it is interesting to see how the mafia infiltrated into the political system and to see how the Sicilian mafia have still got a big influence in the daily life.
If we have to believe the writer, the mafia in Sicily is suffering hard and it will lose importance the coming years. I think he's right to be honest!

Interesting book but I'm hppy I haven't bought it.

After the US entered WWII, the government interned the French luxury liner Normandie, which was docked in NY harbor, and intended to turn it into a troop-carrying ship. A fire broke out when a workman got careless with a torch he was using near a pile of burlap bags. The ship capsized.

The naval commander of the port suspected the cause was "sabotage" by longshoremen of German and Italian extraction--a product of his bigoted imagination. His concern was picked up by Joseph (Socks) Lanza, Mafia boss of the waterfront. He brought it to Meyer Lansky, Luciano's closest pal. Lansky saw an opportunity: if the commander thought sabotage was the cause, why not exploit his fear by cutting a deal--Luciano (serving a 30-year prison term) would use his influence to prevent further sabotage (and strikes) if the government cut him a break. The commander agreed.

Lansky brought the putative deal to Murray Gurfein, a judge who had been special assistant to Thomas E. Dewey when he prosecuted Luciano for "white slavery" (enforced prostitution). Gurfein brought it to Dewey, who agreed. The "sabotage" and strikes stopped. Luciano was transferred to a less-harsh prison. His sentence was commuted in 1946 and he was deported to Italy.

Addendum to above: Lucky convened a Commission meeting in Havana late in '46 and tried to use it to make a comeback. But someon (maybe Vito Genovese) tipped the US government, which leaned on the Cuban government to send him back to Italy.

That was covered in HAVANA NOCTURNE, wasn't it, TB?

There are some who claim the Mob was behind the sinking in order to set up the atmosphere that lead to the Dewey deal.

I'm cynical by nature, so take this for what it's worth: That theory actually makes quite a bit of sense to me.

The Havana meeting is a matter of record, and all the standard organized crime histories mention it. "Havana Nocturne" (as you know, PB) has the standard photo of Luciano, in gabardine cap, holding a suitcase, and being escorted by military men. Most books say it shows Luciano being escorted out of Cuba, back to Italian exile. "Havana Nocturne" says the photo shows Italian military escorting Luciano to Cuba for the meeting--which I seriously doubt.

The story about Genovese ratting out Luciano's presence in Havana to US authorities was mentioned in one of the books (I've forgotten which), but I haven't read it elsewhere, which is why I said "maybe."

I first read the Genovese the Rat story in "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano" by Martin Gosch. My understanding is that there are a lot of errors, omissions and lies in the book but there is also some wheat amidst the chaff so to speak.

That book also claims that the Normandie fire was arranged by Albert Anastasia in order to help spark interest (pun intended) among the Navy and civilian intelligence to use underworld leaders to prevent sabotage or filter out spies.

Supposedly Costello and Lansky arranged it politically so that an inexperienced Lieutenant Commander Charles Haffenden was assigned to the project. Haffenden was then advised to talk to Socks Lanza , who in turn promised co-operation but suggested that if Haffenden really wanted to guarantee peace on the waterfront he had to talk to Charlie Lucky..

Luciano also claims that he seriously assaulted Genovese in Havana so I can't say how accurate ALL of the book really is..