June 3, 2017
Saturday
Today, I spoke to local readers at the Clark County library
in Las Vegas. My hour-and-a-half talk was about the gangsters who built 80% of
the Las Vegas Strip resorts during the two decades from the Flamingo in 1946 to
Caesars Palace in 1966. The theme was from my “30 Illegal Years To The Strip”.
It covered these gangsters’ criminal careers during Prohibition and then their
elegant but illegal casinos across the country, until they and their associates
moved to Las Vegas.
In addition to explaining what these Strip pioneers actually
did and did not do during their criminal careers and what their values were, I presented
the great myths that have developed about their backgrounds. I described the many
major, serious inaccuracies in most books about these men’s careers that are
well documented by the factual sources in my book.
I offered strong evidence that the gang leaders of this era
talked like normal people in private meetings and not like the cartoon-like threatening
bullies they are always portrayed as in Hollywood’s gangster movies and TV
shows. In this regard, I plugged KC Detective Gary Jenkins’ book “Leaving
Vegas” that contains the transcripts of FBI’s bugged conversations of the Mafia
leaders involved in the large casino skim, which was fictionalized in the movie
“Casino”. While these Midwest Mafia leaders were frustrated with their Las
Vegas casino management, these bosses in private talked like normal people with
no threats or anger. Earlier this year, Gary played the actual FBI bugged
recordings at this library to show how normally all these men talked and what
they actually said, when they met with each other in private.
I also discussed the many serious errors in the two AMC
series of “The Making of the Mob”, both for New York and for Chicago. I especially
pointed out this series’ complete reversal of the actual role of the Chicago
Mob in the Las Vegas casino industry from the 1950s to the 1980s, as presented
in the final episode 8.
After my presentation, I answered numerous questions about
various aspects of the history of the Las Vegas casino industry to this very
inquisitive group. Then, I autographed both “30 Illegal Years To The Strip” and
“All Against The Law”. I am most thankful to everyone who attended for their welcome
applause at the end of my presentation, and their warmth during our conversations,
while I signed books.
