Most Wanted Man…
The Mickey Cohen of Boston, James “Whitey” Bulger, 81, legendary fugitive mobster, has just been apprehended – after more than 15 years on the lam & an international manhunt. Whitey surrendered at his rent-controlled apartment, 3 blocks from the Pacific, in pricey, pristine Santa Monica, a star-studded beachside community in Los Angeles. Offering $2 million bounty, the FBI had just began running TV ads about him, but not in the LA market! In the apartment, his digs since 1996, authorities found inside the walls more than $800,000 cash, 30 guns, assorted knives and forged documents. Whitey’s story, like the story of L.A.’s own brazen and outrageous underworld boss Mickey Cohen (which may be read in my forthcoming book, MICKEY COHEN: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF L.A.’S NOTORIOUS MOBSTER, coming May 1, 2012) is amazing. While Whitey ruled Beantown for a generation, his brother politician BILLY BULGER– with whom he shared a very close and well known relationship – was one of the most powerful figures in Massachusetts politics (Kennedys and John Kerry kissed his ass!!!)
Whitey is infamous not only for his murderous ways, prominent brother, but also for being a top FBI informant -while having a personal FBI agent on payroll. The 2006 film, The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, was a prosaic (with changed names) version of his story, but is worth seeing for the performance of incomparable Jack Nicholson as the Whitey-ish mobster. Many non-fiction books have been written, but the one I love is The Brothers Bulger by Howie Carr. An outstanding read, you get the true story of both the mobster and his equally fascinating brother!
May 21, 2011…
The Rapture is coming on Sat…What to wear? It always matters what you’re wearing…but particularly on the day when your signature look will be for all eternity! If a Christian group is right, we’ll soon be sashaying down that runway in the sky for the pearly gates — or to the fires of hell. But don’t worry about Rex and Frosty: In NY,compassionate atheists vow to rescue pets if their owners ascend on “Judgement Day.”
Hope Springs Eternal…
After effects of the Fukushima disaster in Tokyo: “While bottled water is still hard to find and the huge video screens in Shibuya remain dark, some inhabitants of Tokyo are beginning to return to their usual joyous style. One Harajuku fashion plate, pointing to his outrageous shirt and huge pendant, wondered out loud if it’s O.K. to be having fun. In the days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the city most creative dressers ditched the pastel colors and heels, and Japan Fashion Week canceled its events. Now a sense of normality is creeping back, as more fashion companies re-schedule their shows and Tokyo’s youth put their all-black ensembles in the closet. Said Kento Koizumi as he brushed a streak of Smurf-blue hair out of his eyes, “Tokyo should be strong for the people in Sendai.” Rebecca Willa Davis, N.Y. Times, 4-17-11
Now Available! MICKY COHEN:The Life & Crimes of L.A.’s Notorious Mobster
My revelatory L.A. underworld book, seen from the angle of Mickey Cohen, Hollywood’s outrageous mob boss, will be released May 1, 2012. An incredible story, covering six decades, it’s packed with juicy revelations, and steaming historical shockers about the likes of RFK, Nixon, Rev. Billy Graham, as well as countless stars (Sinatra, Marilyn, Lana Turner and her lover from Cohen’s gang – who ends up dead in her bedroom – even Shirley Temple), as well as iconic mobsters like Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky.
But what next? With the death of Elizabeth Taylor I though about meeting her in Monte Carlo. She was still amazingly beautiful – and very funny. Maybe a simple book, using silent-screen diva Louise Brooks‘ sublime bestseller LULU IN HOLLYWOOD as a template. It’s just eight short and intimate stories about people from her life. I could recall Andy Warhol, Jim Morrison, Elizabeth Taylor, Fellini and a few more mega-legends…capturing my impressions of these icons up close.
UPDATE: I don’t want to write another book.