by Yari Stern
Yari brushed back the matted hair from Sylvan’s forehead.
“Do you hear that?” Sylvan’s voice was smooth now. The coughing attacks were gone.
“Hear what?” he asked, leaning in to capture whispers.
Sylvan opened his eyes wide and said, “He’s calling me. Time to pay my dues.”
Tears ran down his thickly etched jowls. As he closed his eyes for the last time; a peace permeated his features. Yari squeezed his old partner’s hand in a farewell gesture.
And there Yari remained, absorbing it all: the regard for individuality, the limitlessness of human potential, the significance of purpose that everyone, conscious and confused, rational and irrational, good and evil, plays on the stage of life.
Yari Stern (a nom de plume) worked with the Italian, Black and Jewish Mafias of Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York from the age of 16 to 22. During that time he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree at accredited institutions of higher learning. After escaping from the clutches of crime, he became technical rock climber and completed a PhD. He is now a full
time writer living in Boulder Colorado.
SIX YEARS INSIDE THE MAFIAS
how I worked my way through college: a true story
1964, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The City of Brotherly Love is being torn apart by personal greed and racial conflict. Within that maelstrom, Yari Stern, the son of a prominent Philadelphia police officer, is trapped by his own selfish motivations and an environment that rewards achievement at any price over morals. Disillusioned, Yari seeks a life of crime, becoming a master thief. In an effort to delve further into his chosen career, he ingratiates himself with the Black, Jewish and Italian Mafias, falling into a downward spiral of grave conflict with family, traditions, and the legal system. Contrasting himself with his father, Yari becomes appalled at his transformation into a “wise guy.” But by the time he decides to get out, he’s caught in a spider’s web of crime and deception. Unable to escape the clutches of crime boss Sylvan Skolnick in New Jersey, Phil Testa in Philadelphia, and Carlo Gambino in New York, he is forced to participate in more and more dangerous offenses. Finally, indicted by the city, state and the Feds and forced to dig his own grave, there is nowhere for Yari to go but upward. Every event and character in the book is real. Some names were changed out of respect, or fear, for those still living.