Collins, Max Allan - Nathan Heller 14
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My portrait of Estes Kefauver is drawn primarily from the following sources: Estes Kefauver: A Biography (1980), Charles L. Fontenay; Kefauver (1971), Joseph Bruce Gorman; The Kefauver Story (1956), Jack Anderson and Fred Blumenthal; and Standing Up for the People: The Life and Work of Estes Kefauver (1972), Harvey Swados.
Two books relating to Kefauver, however, must be singled out as particularly key to this novel: the first-rate scholarly work The Kefauver Committee and the Politics of Crime, 1950-1952 (1974), William Howard Moore; and the senator’s own Crime in America (1951), Estes Kefauver. Also, in addition to photocopies of actual testimony, I used the government document The Third Interim Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (1951).
I am an enormous Frank Sinatra fan, with an extensive library of books on the singer, his life, and his art; the portrait in this novel—meant to be fair and even affectionate, without ducking certain realities—was primarily drawn from Frank Sinatra: An American Legend (1995, 1998), Nancy Sinatra; Frank Sinatra: Is This Man Mafia? (1979), George Carpozi, Jr.; His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra (1986), Kitty Kelley; Sinatra: Behind the Legend (1997), J. Randy Taraborrelli; and The Sinatra Files: The Secret FBI Dossier (2000), Tom Kuntz and Phil Kuntz, editors. Some Sinatra fans may object to my using the Kelley book as a source; I feel this is balanced out by the Nancy Sinatra biography, which has an excellent year by year (sometimes day by day!) breakdown of her father’s remarkable life.
Jayne Mansfield and her first husband Paul are, obviously, real people; I remind my readers that these are, like all of the characterizations in this novel, fictionalizations. The story Vera tells in this novel about her rape is one reported in several books and something she apparently told from time to time; but I have reason to disbelieve it—and its suggestion about the paternity of her first child. Also, the events in her life described herein—including her studying at UCLA and her attempt to become Miss California, as well as Paul’s objections to both— have been moved in time a few months, to accommodate the needs of this narrative. Consulted were Jayne Mansfield’s Wild, Wild World (1963), Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay; Jayne Mansfield (1973), May Mann; Sexbomb: The Life and Death of Jayne Mansfield (1988), Guus Luijters and Gerard Timmer; The Tragic Secret Life of Jayne Mansfield (1974), Raymond Strait; and Va Va Voom! (1995), Steve Sullivan. Strait also published Here They Are—Jayne Mansfield (1992), with a new copyright and no mention of the earlier Tragic Secret Life, although they appear to be substantially the same book with different pictures.
Major sources for the Drew Pearson characterization were Confessions of a Muckraker (1979), Jack Anderson with James Boyd, and Drew Pearson: An Unauthorized Biography (1973), Oliver Pilat. Although I have gathered numerous books on Joseph McCarthy and the McCarthy Era, his characterization here primarily depended upon The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy (1982), Thomas C. Reeves, and McCarthy—the Man, the Senator, the “Ism” (1952), Jack Anderson and Ronald W. May. Jack Anderson wins the M.V.P. award for writing three of the books I used as sources on three different subjects touched upon (in addition to being a character—albeit an offstage one) in this novel.
Three books on Chicago crime were very helpful: Barbarians in Our Midst (1952), Virgil Peterson (with a Kefauver introduction); Syndicate City (1954), Alson J. Smith; and To Serve and Collect (1998), Richard C. Lindberg. The latter covers the Drury case in some depth, as does George Murray’s The Madhouse on Madison Street (1965), a book on Chicago newspapermen in which Drury is viewed in the context of his journalistic endeavors.
Many other general Chicago books were consulted, including Chicago’s Famous Buildings (1965, 1969), Arthur Siegel and J. Carson Webster; Chicago Interiors (1979), David Lowe; Chicago on Foot (1973, 1977), Ira J. Bach; Kup’s Chicago (1962), Irv Kupcinet; Lost Chicago (1978), David Lowe; and a restaurant guide, Vittles and Vice (1952), Patricia Bronte, which provided Chez Paree background. My research associate George Hagenauer’s True Crime Series Three: G-Men & Gangsters (1992)—a card set, the first series of which we (notoriously) did together—was a handy useful resource.
The Riverview sequence draws upon my own memories of the park and George Hagenauer’s as well as Chuck Wlodarczyk’s valentine to the park, Riverview: Gone but Not Forgotten (1977). Some minor liberties, primarily geographic, have been taken.
Dozens of books about organized crime served as reference, most significantly: Accardo: The Genuine Godfather (1995), William F. Roemer, Jr.; All-American Mafioso (1991), Charles Rappleye and Ed Becker; Blood and Power (1989), Stephen Fox; Captive City (1969), Ovid DeMaris; Capone (1971), John Kobler; The Don (1977), William Brashler; Double Cross (1992), Sam and Chuck Giancana; The Hollywood Connection (1993), Michael Nunn; The Legacy of Al Capone (1975), George Murray; The Mafia Encyclopedia (1987), Carl Sifakis; Mafia Princess (1984), Antoinette Giancana and Thomas C. Renner; Mr. Capone (1992), Robert J. Schoenberg; Mob Lawyer (1994), Frank Ragano and Selwyn Raab; and Playboy’s History of Organized Crime (1975), Richard Hammer.
Other helpful books included: Jack Ruby’s Girls (1970), Diana Hunter and Alice Anderson; Mid-Century Modern (1984), Cara Greenberg; Playing the Field: My Story (1987), Mamie Van Doren with Art Aveilhe; The Plot to Kill the President (1981), G. Robert Blakey and Richard N. Billings; Twentieth-Century Pop Culture (1999), Dan Epstein; and This Was Burlesque (1969), Ann Corio with Joseph DiMona. Another Jack Ruby reference was “The Lost Boy,” a 1999 Gambling Magazine article by John William Tuohy.
The Acapulco sequence drew upon the beautifully written Now in Mexico (1947), Hudson Strode, as well as Around the World in 1,000 Pictures (1954), A. Milton Run-yon and Vilma F. Bergane; Pacific Mexico Handbook (1999), Bruce Whipperman; and The Wilhelms’ Guide to All Mexico (1959), John, Lawrence, and Charles Wilhelm.
A number of books on L.A. and Hollywood were also sources, including Death in Paradise (1998), Tony Blanche and Brad Schreiber; Great American Hotels (1991), James Tackach; and Sins of the City: The Real Los Angeles Noir (1999), Jim Heimann. Also, the WPA Guides for California, Los Angeles, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., were vital references.
Thanks to editor Genny Ostertag, for her strong support, and to my friend and agent, the indefatigable Dominick Abel.
As always, I am grateful for the love, support, and patience of my wife, Barbara Collins—the rare writer who can listen with interest and offer helpful suggestions to another writer when interrupted in the midst of her own work.
Photo Credit: Bamford Studio
Max Allan Collins has earned fifteen Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” nominations, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective and Stolen Away, and receiving the PWA life achievement award, the Eye. His graphic novel, Road to Perdition, which is the basis of the Academy Award-winning film starring Tom Hanks, was followed by two novels, Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise. His suspense series include Quarry, Nolan, Mallory, and Eliot Ness, and his numerous comics credits include the syndicated Dick Tracy and his own Ms. Tree. He has written and directed four feature films and two documentaries. His other produced screenplays include “The Expert,” an HBO World Premiere. His coffee-table book The History of Mystery received nominations for every major mystery award and Men’s Adventure Magazines won the Anthony Award. Collins lives in Muscatine, Iowa, with his wife, writer Barbara Collins. They have collaborated on seven novels and numerous short stories, and are currently writing the “Trash ‘n’ Treasures” mysteries.
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