The latest book from Eckhartz Press is a wonderful memoir about growing up around the mob, Mob Adjacent. It's been very aptly described as The Wonder Years meets The Sopranos. We recently had a chance to catch up with Jeffrey and talk to him about his book...
EP: Your book is the story of growing up adjacent to the Chicago mob, and it's really interesting to read that from the perspective of a kid. But to really understand this story, you have to know who your father was, and just how adjacent he was to the mob. Can you tell us a little about him?
Jeffrey: Dad was born on Aberdeen Street and Grand Avenue in Chicago’s Little Italy on the day the stock market crashed, and the Great Depression began – Oct. 29, 1929. When Al Capone went to prison in 1932, the next generation of mobsters came from those same streets. The Giancana family lived on the other end of Aberdeen. The Accardos lived a few blocks away on Grand. The Cerones lived nearby on Elizabeth. Dad went to school with Joe Lombardo and John DiFronzo. Grandma went to church with Carmela Lombardo, Joe’s mother. In a small, closed society, everybody knew everybody. If you weren’t family, you were family adjacent. Dad wasn’t morally opposed to crime or criminals, but he didn’t want to work for any boss in any business. For most of his life, Dad owned small businesses. But his friends from Grand and Aberdeen remained his friends until the last days of his life.
EP: Any Chicago mob-ologist will know the names of the mobsters mentioned in this book. Guys who ran the mob in Chicago like Sam Giancana, Jackie Cerone, Joey Lombardo, John DiFronzio, Tony Accardo, and Joey Doves Aiuppa all make appearances. Tell us how you saw those guys when you were a kid, and what you thought after you realized exactly what they did for a living.
Jeffrey: We knew mobsters hoodlums, and gangsters as the people who came to Sunday dinner, stopped by for coffee, and brought fat envelopes to weddings, graduations, and funerals. It was always a bit like Christmas morning. They might bring a trunk full of toys for my brother, sister, and me, or a mink coat for Mom. One night we’re having dinner with Frank Cerone and his wife Mamie, and the next day we’re reading in the newspaper about Frank being indicted on gambling charges and facing 10-years in prison. It didn’t make sense. Criminals? No. Tony Accardo worked for a beer distribution company. Jackie Cerone and his cousin Frank both worked in the tavern business. It took us a long time to understand the duality of their lives. The newspapers and television opened our eyes to the other side of “Uncle” Tony, “Uncle” Skip, and all the rest.
EP: I like the way your brother polishes the edges a bit on the work they did. He referred to one guy as "specializing in removing things that didn't belong to him" from people's homes. Were you or your brother ever tempted into entering that world yourselves?
Jeffrey: While Dad was always closed-mouth about who did what in the mob, he was very clear about the danger behind the façade of glamour. He talked about how his mother dragged him to the funerals of dead friends who got in too deep with the mob. And, of course, we regularly read in the newspapers about who got indicted, who went to prison, and who got murdered. From the time I was a kid, I wanted to be a writer, so the business of being a gangster never appealed to me, but my brother liked to party with the mob. Those guys always had the best times at the best places, so it was a lot of fun. But like Dad, he passed on the opportunities that were absolutely presented to him. We were never in the mob, but always adjacent.
EP: Because your dad worked in the entertainment side of the business, you also had many brushes with big stars. People like Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Liza, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Eddie Fisher are just a few of the names. Do you have any favorite stories?
Jeffrey: Though they’re not widely known today, Keely Smith and husband Louie Prima were a big jazz act in the Sixties. We watched them rehearse once at Dad’s nightclub. Keeley was very sweet, and gave me an autographed album. But for pure shock value, nothing beat running up the stairs and crashing into Frank Sinatra, who was on his way downstairs to meet Sam Giancana. The funniest moment was Mom’s reaction when Dad asked if she wanted to see Eddie Fisher’s show. This was after the scandal of Eddie dumping Debbie Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor. Mom curled her nose and said she wouldn’t be caught dead in the same room with Eddie Fisher after what he did to “poor Debbie.”
EP: Some of the most interesting characters in this book are the women in your life. The wives and girlfriends of your "uncles" had some really interesting stories as well. In a lot of books about the mafia, they are often afterthoughts, but you spent a lot of time with them and really brought them to life. Talk a little about the women in the book.
Jeffrey: Mamie Cerone – Frank’s wife – was hilarious. A former Ziegfeld Girl, she ditched showbiz for true love. We have some great glamour photos of Mamie during her Broadway years; she looks lovely, delicate, and refined. Then in real life, she would curse her husband out in language that would make a trucker blush. Mamie had what they used to call “moxie.” Clarice Accardo, Tony’s wife, also started out as a dancer. If the mob had a First Lady, it was Clarice. She hosted afternoon meetings of her “Vodka Club” where the wives of mobsters could openly share the reality of their lives. Clara Cerone – Jackie’s wife – radiated warmth. She was an absolute bombshell, too. They had no illusions – or delusions – about what their husbands did for a living. But while those men might have been bosses on the street, once they walked in the front door, their wives ruled the roost.
EP: I know you went away to college just as this lifestyle was starting to fade away. Your "uncles" all started to go away to a federal hotel. That life isn't really a thing as much as it used to be. Why do you think it didn't really get passed on to the next generation?
Jeffrey: Legislation and technology. For decades, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover strenuously – and curiously – denied the existence of an organized crime network. In doing so, he allowed it to flourish. Starting in the Fifties, various government committees tried to tackle organized crime and failed. Legislation – mainly the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) in 1970 finally gave the government real power. Improved surveillance technology also allowed law enforcement to keep a sharper eye on organized crime activities. Separately, states moved in on organized crime’s traditional action with legalized dope, off-track betting, state lotteries, and riverboat and Indian casinos. The Internet played its part, too, with online gambling and the ability to hire “intimate entertainment” from the comfort of your home. Of course, larceny endures. And as long as there are degenerate gamblers, there will be loan sharks. But the glory days are gone.
For a more in-depth Q&A with Jeffrey, listen to this episode of the Minutia Men Celebrity Interview.
