124-611: American Tabloid is a 1995 novel by James Ellroy that chronicles the events surrounding three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958, through November 22, 1963. Each becomes entangled in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI , the CIA , and the Mafia , which eventually leads to their collective involvement in the John F. Kennedy assassination . American Tabloid
248-402: A golf caddie while pursuing writing. He later said, "Caddying was good tax-free cash and allowed me to get home by 2 p.m. and write books.... I caddied right up to the sale of my fifth book." Ellroy has also summed up his life by saying: "Boy's mother murdered. Boy's life shattered. Boy grows up homeless alcoholic jailbird. Jailbird cleans up and writes his way to salvation. Jailbird becomes
372-598: A quintet , with The Enchanters being the third of five books in the series. The later books in the series will be set in the 1960s and will tie back in to the World War II setting, Japanese internment and the immediate post-war setting initially established in Perfidia and This Storm In media appearances, Ellroy has adopted an outsized, stylized public persona of hard-boiled nihilism and self-reflexive subversiveness. He frequently begins public appearances with
496-594: A stereotypical Irish vice that he offered his sons $ 1,000 not to drink until they turned 21. Kennedy reinvested the proceeds he made from liquor importing into various residential and commercial real estate ventures, much of it concentrated in New York City, and the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida . The most important purchase of his real estate investment career was marked by
620-400: A wiretap hoping to catch President Kennedy having an affair with a woman they have set up. Boyd, however, remains fond of the president and becomes enraged when he discovers the scam. When he confronts Bondurant, he is played sections from the tapes in which Kennedy ridicules Boyd's social-climbing and envy. Robert Kennedy, learning of Boyd's CIA connection and erratic behavior upon discovering
744-459: A "bull dyke in a pantsuit", compared John McCain to Mr. Magoo , Joe Biden to Daffy Duck , and said that " Obama looks like a f---ing lemur, a little rodent-like creature, a marsupial or something." He has praised President Ronald Reagan on several occasions, calling him a "titanic human being." On President Donald Trump , Ellroy stated that he "doesn't have the charm of a true, world-class dictator", but also understands his appeal, as "He's
868-468: A "secret history" of the mid-to-late 20th century. Tabloid was named TIME ' s fiction book of the year for 1995. Its follow-up, The Cold Six Thousand , became a bestseller. The final novel, Blood's a Rover , was released on September 22, 2009. After publishing American Tabloid , Ellroy began a memoir , My Dark Places , based on his memories of his mother's murder, the unconventional relationship he had with her, and his investigation of
992-423: A bachelor's degree in economics. Kennedy set his future sights on embarking on a business career upon his graduation from Harvard. During his mid to late 20s, he made a large fortune as an active commodity and stock investor; he then reinvested much of his proceeds into film studios, real estate, and shipping lines. Although Kennedy never built a significant business from scratch, his timing as both buyer and seller
1116-550: A brilliant but disturbed LAPD robbery-homicide detective, and are set mainly in the 1980s. He is a self-described recluse who possesses very few technological amenities, including television, and claims never to read contemporary books by other authors, aside from Joseph Wambaugh 's The Onion Field , out of concern that they might influence his own. However, this does not mean that Ellroy does not read at all, as he claims in My Dark Places to have read at least two books
1240-983: A colleague, "Look at that bunch of pants pressers in Hollywood making themselves millionaires. I could take the whole business away from them." One small studio, Film Booking Offices of America (or FBO), specialized in Westerns produced cheaply. Its owner was in financial trouble, and asked Kennedy to help find a new owner. Kennedy formed his own group of investors and bought it for $ 1.5 million. In March 1926, Kennedy moved to Hollywood to focus on running film studios. At that time, film studios were permitted to own exhibition companies, which were necessary to get their films on local screens. With that in mind, he bought controlling shares in Keith-Albee-Orpheum Theaters Corporation (KAO), which had more than 700 vaudeville theaters across
1364-456: A computer. He prepares elaborate outlines for his books, most of which are several hundred pages long. Dialogue and narration in Ellroy novels often consists of a "heightened pastiche of jazz slang , cop patois, creative profanity and drug vernacular" with a particular use of period-appropriate slang . He often employs a sort of telegraphese (stripped-down, staccato-like sentence structures),
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#17328012369981488-681: A knowing smile. Privately, Ellroy opposes the death penalty . In 2001, Ellroy stated that he is opposed to gun control. In the 2000 presidential election , Ellroy voted for George W. Bush "because I wanted to repudiate Gore and Clintonism and nobody hates Bill Clinton more than me..." In 2009, he called Bush a "slimeball and the most disastrous American president in recent times." He stated that he voted for Barack Obama , though later denied doing so, while adding that most of his statements on modern politics are willful misrepresentations. Ellroy has frequently shared his thoughts on politicians and political candidates. He has called Hillary Clinton
1612-528: A list of recommended candidates for the SEC chairmanship. Kennedy headed the list, which stated he was "the best bet for Chairman because of executive ability, knowledge of habits and customs of business to be regulated and ability to moderate different points of view on Commission." Kennedy sought out the best lawyers available, giving him a hard-driving team with a mission for reform. They included William O. Douglas and Abe Fortas , both of whom were later named to
1736-641: A major in the Coldstream Guards , was killed in action in 1944. Kennedy rejected the belief of Winston Churchill that any compromise with Nazi Germany was impossible. Instead, he supported Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain 's policy of appeasement . Throughout 1938, while the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Germany intensified, Kennedy attempted to arrange a meeting with Adolf Hitler . Shortly before
1860-1028: A marvelous sense of timing". During the Great Depression , Kennedy shrewdly increased his wealth by devoting most of it into investment-grade real estate. In 1929, Kennedy's fortune was estimated to be $ 4 million (equivalent to $ 71 million in 2023). By 1935, his wealth had increased to $ 180 million (equivalent to $ 4 billion in 2023). He also acquired enough capital to establish million-dollar trust funds for each of his nine children that guaranteed lifelong financial independence. Kennedy generated windfall profits from reorganizing and refinancing several Hollywood film studios . He began with film distribution in New England, buying first movie theaters in Massachusetts, but quickly moved on to industry-wide arrangements and production. While still at Hayden, Stone & Co., Kennedy boasted to
1984-600: A mini-series or ongoing series. Screenwriter Kirk Ellis was drafting a screenplay for the potential series. On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed American Tabloid on its list of the 100 most influential novels . James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist . Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for
2108-425: A monologue such as: Good evening peepers, prowlers, pederasts, panty-sniffers, punks and pimps. I'm James Ellroy, the demon dog with the hog-log, the foul owl with the death growl, the white knight of the far right, and the slick trick with the donkey dick. I'm the author of 16 books, masterpieces all; they precede all my future masterpieces. These books will leave you reamed, steamed and drycleaned, tie-dyed, swept to
2232-453: A notorious and unsolved crime. Throughout his youth, Ellroy used Short as a surrogate for his conflicting emotions and desires. His confusion and trauma led to a period of intense clinical depression , from which he recovered only gradually. In 1962, Ellroy began to attend Fairfax High School , a predominantly Jewish high school. While in high school, he began to engage in a variety of outrageous acts, many anti-Semitic in nature. He joined
2356-545: A painfully developed conscience. I despise unconscionable acts, whoever is perpetrating them." In a 2009 interview, Ellroy said that in the 1960s and 1970s "I was never a peacemaker; I was a fuck-you right-winger." He has also been an outspoken and unquestioning admirer of the Los Angeles Police Department (despite his explicit depictions of brutality and corruption of the department in his novels), dismissing its flaws as aberrations. He has said that
2480-515: A prominent stock brokerage firm with offices in Boston and New York, where he became an expert dealing in the unregulated stock market of the day, engaging in tactics that were later considered to be insider trading and market manipulation violations. He happened to be on the corner of Wall and Broad Streets at the moment of the Wall Street bombing on September 16, 1920, and was thrown to
2604-436: A psycho-sexual relationship with her, and tried to catch glimpses of her nude. Ellroy stated that "I lived for naked glimpses. I hated her and lusted for her..." On June 22, 1958, when Ellroy was 10 years old, his mother was raped and murdered. Ellroy later described his mother as "sharp-tongued [and] bad-tempered", unable to keep a steady job, alcoholic, and sexually promiscuous. His first reaction upon hearing of her death
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#17328012369982728-539: A raid against the stock himself. In 1933, he helped establish a "stock pool" that bought large quantities of stock in Libbey-Owens-Ford (LOF), an auto-glass manufacturer, and wash-traded huge volumes of stock among themselves while promoting the outright fraud that their company was related to Owens-Illinois , a glassmaker that made bottles which presumably would have profited from the imminent repeal of Prohibition. Kennedy later claimed he understood that
2852-639: A report from Hoover of Littell's budding alcoholism and invented mob ties. Boyd and Bondurant help train the "Blessington Cadre": Cuban exiles training to overthrow Castro at a CIA camp in Florida , recruited through Hoffa's "Tiger Kab" taxi stand in Miami . The mob, through New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello , funds the operation by supplying the Cadre heroin for redistribution. Robert Kennedy has Marcello deported, unaware of (and uninterested in) his involvement in
2976-427: A run for Governor of Massachusetts in 1942. However, even during the darkest months of World War II, Kennedy remained "more wary of" prominent American Jews, such as Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter , than he was of Hitler. Kennedy told the reporter Joe Dinneen: It is true that I have a low opinion of some Jews in public office and in private life. That does not mean that I. ... believe they should be wiped off
3100-621: A secondary character in White Jazz with only superficial similarities to his character in American Tabloid . The time-frame overlap between the two books leads to some inconsistencies, including the deteriorating mental state of Howard Hughes. Kemper Boyd is an FBI agent who, in 1958, is recruited by J. Edgar Hoover to infiltrate the Kennedy organization. This assignment leads to CIA contacts, as well as employment to influence
3224-636: A significant share, was under threat of takeover. Kennedy borrowed $ 45,000 (equivalent to $ 1.4 million in 2023) from family and friends and bought back control. At the age of 25, he was rewarded by being elected the bank's president. Kennedy told the press he was "the youngest" bank president in America. In May 1917, Kennedy was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Electric Company, New England's leading public utility at
3348-663: A spot on the Bureau's Top Hoodlum Squad. The three men plot to entrap John F. Kennedy with a call girl ; Boyd and Littell for J. Edgar Hoover , Bondurant for Hughes. The set-up is successful, but the Kennedy family prevents the transcript of the encounter from being printed in Hughes' Hush-Hush tabloid . At Hoover's direction, Boyd leaves the FBI and begins working with Hoover's personal nemeses—Kennedy and his younger brother Robert —on
3472-540: A style that reaches its apex in The Cold Six Thousand . Ellroy describes it as a "direct, shorter-rather-than-longer sentence style that's declarative and ugly and right there, punching you in the nards." This signature style is not the result of a conscious experimentation but of chance and came about when he was asked by his editor to shorten his novel L.A. Confidential by more than one hundred pages. Rather than removing any subplots, Ellroy abbreviated
3596-431: A third term, which began in 1941. Kennedy may have wanted to run for president himself in 1940 or later. Having effectively removed himself from the national stage, Joe Sr. sat out World War II on the sidelines. Kennedy stayed active in the smaller venues of rallying Irish-American and Roman Catholic Democrats to vote for Roosevelt's re-election for a fourth term in 1944 . Former Ambassador Kennedy claimed to be eager to help
3720-410: A week growing up, eventually shoplifting more to satisfy his love of reading. He then goes on to say that he read works by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler . Hallmarks of his work include dense plotting and a relentlessly pessimistic —albeit moral —worldview. His work has earned Ellroy the nickname "Demon dog of American crime fiction." Ellroy writes longhand on legal pads rather than on
3844-489: Is "Envy thou not the oppressor, And choose none of his ways" from Proverbs 3:31. In collaboration with the Los Angeles Police Museum and Glynn Martin, the museum's executive director , Ellroy released LAPD '53 on May 19, 2015. Photography from the museum's archives are presented alongside Ellroy's writings about crime and law enforcement during that era. In the fall of 2017, Ellroy investigated
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3968-453: Is a helluva long way from East Boston, isn't it?" On May 6, 1944, Kennedy's daughter, Kathleen , married William "Billy" Cavendish , Marquess of Hartington, the elder son of the Duke of Devonshire . The union was disapproved by Rose Kennedy due to Hartington being an Anglican. Unable to reconcile their religious backgrounds, Hartington and Kathleen were married in a civil ceremony. Hartington,
4092-787: Is finished in England. It may be here [in the United States]", he stated in the Boston Sunday Globe of November 10, 1940. With German troops having overrun Poland , Denmark , Norway , Belgium , the Netherlands , Luxembourg , and France , and with daily bombings of Great Britain, Kennedy unambiguously and repeatedly stated that the war was not about saving democracy from National Socialism (Nazism) or from Fascism. In an interview with two newspaper journalists, Louis M. Lyons of The Boston Globe , and Ralph Coghlan of
4216-457: Is the myth of " closure ". "Closure is bullshit", Ellroy often remarks, "and I would love to find the man who invented closure and shove a giant closure plaque up his ass." In his works characters often die or vanish quickly before otherwise traditional closure points in order to capitalize this idea. Ellroy has claimed that he is done writing noir crime novels. "I write big political books now," he says. "I want to write about LA exclusively for
4340-533: Is titled This Storm which had a release date of May 14, 2019. It was released May 30, 2019, in the United Kingdom, and June 4, 2019, in the United States. A Waterstones exclusive limited edition of Perfidia was published two days after its initial release and included an essay by Ellroy titled "Ellroy's History—Then and Now." . Ellroy dedicated Perfidia "To Lisa Stafford." The epigraph
4464-550: Is to the Russian novel and what Beethoven is to music." Structurally, several of Ellroy's books, such as The Big Nowhere , L.A. Confidential , American Tabloid , and The Cold Six Thousand , have three disparate points of view through different characters, with chapters alternating between them. Starting with The Black Dahlia , Ellroy's novels have mostly been historical dramas about the relationship between corruption and law enforcement. A predominant theme of Ellroy's work
4588-562: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch , Kennedy said: It's all a question of what we do with the next six months. The whole reason for aiding England is to give us time ... As long as she is in there, we have time to prepare. It isn't that [Britain is] fighting for democracy. That's the bunk. She's fighting for self-preservation, just as we will if it comes to us. ... I know more about the European situation than anybody else, and it's up to me to see that
4712-767: The American Nazi Party , purchased Nazi paraphernalia, sang the Horst-Wessel-Lied at school, mailed Nazi pamphlets to girls he liked, openly criticized John F. Kennedy , and ironically advocated for the reinstatement of slavery. His "Crazy Man Act", as Ellroy describes it, was a plea for attention and got him beat up and eventually expelled from Fairfax High School in 11th grade, after ranting about Nazism in his English class. Ellroy's father died soon after this, with his father's last words to him being, "Try to pick up every waitress who serves you." After being expelled from high school, Ellroy then joined
4836-546: The Nazi bombing of British cities began in September 1940, Kennedy once again sought a personal meeting with Hitler without the approval of the U. S. Department of State, in order to "bring about a better understanding between the United States and Germany". When war came in September 1939, Kennedy's public support for American neutrality conflicted with Roosevelt's increasing efforts to provide aid to Britain. "Democracy
4960-563: The Rodney King beating and Rampart police scandals were overblown by a biased media . Nevertheless, like other aspects of his persona, he often deliberately obscures where his public persona ends and his actual views begin. When asked about his "right-wing tendencies", he told an interviewer, "Right-wing tendencies? I do that to fuck with people." Similarly, in the film Feast of Death, his (now ex-) wife describes his politics as "bullshit", an assessment to which Ellroy responds only with
5084-463: The U.S. Army for a short period of time. On enlisting, Ellroy soon decided he did not belong there and convinced an army psychiatrist he was unfit for combat. He was discharged after three months. Ellroy credits the public libraries of Los Angeles County as the basis of his writing. He shelved books at the public library. In a speech at the Library of Congress in 2019 he declared: "I am a product of
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5208-531: The U.S. Senate Select Committee investigating mob involvement in labor unions . The Kennedys, with their wealth and privilege, embody everything that Boyd hopes to gain. Littell, who meets the Kennedys through Boyd, is enraptured by Robert, both men sharing a hatred for organized crime. Following the Cuban revolution , Bondurant and Boyd both become CIA operatives while Littell investigates Jimmy Hoffa 's ties to
5332-455: The cold case file, Ellroy and investigator Bill Stoner worked the case but gave up after 15 months, believing any suspects to be dead. After the final pages of My Dark Places , a contact page is provided, stating: "The investigation continues. Information on the case can be forwarded to Detective Stoner either through the toll-free number, 1-800-717-6517, or his e-mail address, detstoner@earthlink.net." In 2008, The Library of America selected
5456-475: The richest people in the United States in 1957, it placed Kennedy in the $ 200–400 million group, which is equivalent to roughly 3.2 billion dollars in 2023. Kennedy's first job after graduating from Harvard was a position as a state-employed bank examiner, where the job allowed him to learn a great deal about the banking industry. In 1913, the Columbia Trust Bank, in which his father held
5580-717: The "Jew media" in the United States to become a problem, that "Jewish pundits in New York and Los Angeles" were already making noises contrived to "set a match to the fuse of the world". By August 1940, Kennedy worried that a third term for President Roosevelt would mean war. Biographer Laurence Leamer in The Kennedy Men: 1901–1963 reports: "Joe believed that Roosevelt, Churchill, the Jews, and their allies would manipulate America into approaching Armageddon ." Nevertheless, Kennedy supported Roosevelt's third term in return for Roosevelt's promise to support Joseph Kennedy Jr. in
5704-602: The "shining star among the dim 'knights' in the [Roosevelt] Administration". In 1938, Roosevelt appointed Kennedy as the United States ambassador to the Court of St James's (United Kingdom). Kennedy hoped to succeed Roosevelt in the White House, telling a British reporter in late 1939 that he was confident that Roosevelt would "fall" in 1940 (that year's presidential election). Kennedy and his family retreated to
5828-545: The 1930s, with a radio audience that reached millions every week. Having been a strong supporter of Roosevelt since 1932, in 1934 Coughlin broke with the president, who became a bitter opponent and a target of Coughlin's weekly anti-communist, anti-Semitic , far-right, anti–Federal Reserve and isolationist radio talks. Roosevelt sent Kennedy and other prominent Irish Catholics to try to tone down Coughlin. Coughlin swung his support to Huey Long in 1935, and then to William Lemke 's Union Party in 1936. Kennedy strongly supported
5952-586: The Blessington operation and advise whether to implement the CIA's invasion strategy. After a sham visit, Boyd naturally encourages the president to authorize the mission, promising Kennedy that it will guarantee his re-election. The Bay of Pigs Invasion is authorized, although Kennedy second-guesses its wisdom and refuses to provide the air support that the Cadre believes necessary. The invasion fails and proves an embarrassment for Kennedy and all involved—including
6076-596: The CIA operation. Bondurant covertly absconds with Marcello when his INS plane lands in Central America . Littell, hired as Marcello's immigration lawyer at Boyd's recommendation, meets Bondurant and Marcello at their hideout and hands over the stolen Teamsters books. President Kennedy, unaware of Boyd's CIA connection, taps Boyd – now also working for the civil rights task force in Robert F. Kennedy's Justice Department – to investigate
6200-479: The CIA's Cuban plots. After recuperating, Littell takes leave from the FBI, invades Schiffrin's home, and steals the fund's books himself. Cracking the books' code, he realizes that Joseph Kennedy loaned millions of dollars to the fund. Hoover fires Littell, revokes his pension, and blackballs him from every U.S. state's bar association . Boyd tries to get Littell a job with now- Attorney General designate Robert Kennedy, who emphatically refuses, also having received
6324-431: The CIA, the mob, Bondurant, and Boyd. The night of the invasion, Boyd is shot numerous times in a side operation to distribute "hot shots" of heroin that would be linked back to Castro. Through the patronage of Marcello, Littell becomes a full-fledged mob lawyer and is hired by Hoffa. Through their now-mutual hatred of the Kennedys, Littell and Hoover make amends, and Hoover arranges for Hughes to become Littell's client. In
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#17328012369986448-466: The German ambassador to the United Kingdom, who claimed upon his return to Berlin that Kennedy had told him that "it was not so much the fact that we want to get rid of the Jews that was so harmful to us, but rather the loud clamor with which we accompanied this purpose. [Kennedy] himself fully understood our Jewish policy." Kennedy's main concern with such violent acts against German Jews as Kristallnacht
6572-556: The Kennedy brothers and former FBI agent who admitted to involvement in a conspiracy to kill Fidel Castro and has been linked to the JFK assassination. Ward Littell is an FBI agent clandestinely investigating organized crime activity in defiance of his employer. He is dismissed from the FBI but secures employment as a "Mob" Lawyer and wins his way back into Hoover's good graces. Secondary characters, which consist of fictional characters as well as historical figures, include: Other members of
6696-588: The Kennedy family's private fortune, including being a source of funding for financing his sons' future political campaigns. In 1932 , Kennedy supported Franklin D. Roosevelt in his bid for the presidency. This was his first major involvement in a national political campaign, and he donated, lent, and raised a substantial amount of money for the campaign. In 1934, Congress established the independent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to end irresponsible market manipulations and dissemination of false information about securities. Roosevelt's brain trust drew up
6820-422: The L.A. County Public Library System." During his teens and 20s, he drank heavily and abused Benzedrex inhalers . He was engaged in minor crimes (especially shoplifting, house-breaking, and burglary) and was often homeless. After serving some time in jail and suffering from pneumonia , during which he developed an abscess on his lung "the size of a large man's fist," Ellroy stopped drinking and began working as
6944-460: The Mad Dog of American Crime Fiction." On October 4, 1991, Ellroy married writer and critic Helen Knode. The couple moved from California to Kansas City in 1995. In 2006, after their divorce, Ellroy returned to Los Angeles. The two later reconciled and moved to Denver , although Ellroy has stated that they live in separate apartments in the same building. He frequently tells interviewers that
7068-553: The Moon (adapted as Cop ), L.A. Confidential , Brown's Requiem , Killer on the Road /Silent Terror (adapted as Stay Clean ), and The Black Dahlia . In each instance, screenplays based on Ellroy's work have been penned by other screenwriters. While he has frequently been disappointed by these adaptations (such as Cop ), he was very complimentary of Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland 's screenplay for L.A. Confidential at
7192-580: The New Deal (Father Coughlin believed that the New Deal did not go far enough, and thought that Franklin Roosevelt was a tool of the rich) and reportedly believed as early as 1933 that Coughlin was "becoming a very dangerous proposition" as an opponent of Roosevelt and "an out and out demagogue". In 1936, Kennedy worked with Roosevelt, Bishop Francis Spellman and Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII ) to shut Coughlin down. When Coughlin returned to
7316-513: The SEC was protecting their interests. He resigned from the SEC in September 1935. In 1936 , Roosevelt sought Kennedy's help on the campaign, and Kennedy responded with his book I'm for Roosevelt , which he had published and made sure was widely distributed. The book presented arguments for why businessmen should support Roosevelt and the New Deal , told from the perspective of Kennedy's own personal endorsement. The book had significant impact in
7440-502: The Supreme Court. The SEC had four missions. First was to restore investor confidence in the securities market, which had collapsed on account of its questionability, and the external threats supposedly posed by anti-business elements in the Roosevelt administration. Second, the SEC had to get rid of penny-ante swindles based on false information, fraudulent devices, and get-rich-quick schemes . Thirdly, and much more important than
7564-588: The U.S. According to Harvey Klemmer, who served as one of Kennedy's embassy aides, Kennedy habitually referred to Jews as " kikes or sheenies". Kennedy allegedly told Klemmer that "[some] individual Jews are all right, Harvey, but as a race they stink. They spoil everything they touch." When Klemmer returned from a trip to Germany and reported the pattern of vandalism and assaults on Jews by Nazis, Kennedy responded, "Well, they brought it on themselves." On June 13, 1938, Kennedy met in London with Herbert von Dirksen ,
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#17328012369987688-414: The United States that had begun showing movies. In October 1928, he formally merged his film companies FBO and KAO to form Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) and made a large amount of money in the process. Kennedy had no interest in vaudeville; he just wanted the theaters, which he planned to convert to movie houses for the film booking interests he ran in cooperation with Radio Corporation of America (RCA). As
7812-642: The United States. Although he was skeptical of American involvement in World War I , Kennedy sought to participate in wartime production as an assistant general manager of Fore River , a major Bethlehem Steel shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts . There, he oversaw the production of transports and warships. Through this job, he became acquainted with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1919, Kennedy joined Hayden, Stone & Co. ,
7936-442: The air in 1940, Kennedy continued to battle against his influence among Irish Americans. Despite his public disputes with Coughlin, it has also been acknowledged that Kennedy would also accompany Coughlin whenever the priest visited Roosevelt at Hyde Park. A historian with History News Network also stated that Coughlin was a friend of Kennedy as well. In a Boston Post article of August 16, 1936, Coughlin referred to Kennedy as
8060-498: The big 'fuck you' to all pieties." In 2022, Ellroy stated that he no longer followed contemporary politics. Following his parents' divorce, Ellroy was sent to a Dutch Lutheran Church by his mother every Sunday. In 2004, Ellroy had stated "I had a Christian upbringing of sorts, Lutheran. I don't go to church. I can't say I'm a Christian." However, in 2013, Ellroy stated "I'm a Christian. I'm not an Evangelical Christian, but God and religious spiritual feelings always guided me during
8184-558: The business community and after his re-election, Roosevelt appointed Kennedy as Chairman of the United States Maritime Commission , which built on his wartime experience in running a major shipyard. Kennedy spent only ten months at the Commission. Father Charles Coughlin , an Irish Canadian priest near Detroit , became the most prominent Roman Catholic spokesman on political and financial issues in
8308-407: The chapter number, the location (usually the name of a city), and the date. The action of the book is completely sequential. The book is written in the limited third-person , alternating between the three main characters. "Document inserts" reproducing newspaper clippings, letters, and transcripts of telephone calls are interspersed between chapters. There are flashbacks , but they are restricted to
8432-458: The country gets it. Kennedy's views became inconsistent and increasingly isolationist . British MP Josiah Wedgwood IV , who had himself opposed the British government's earlier appeasement policy, said of Kennedy: We have a rich man, untrained in diplomacy, unlearned in history and politics, who is a great publicity seeker and who apparently is ambitious to be the first Catholic president of
8556-476: The countryside during the bombings of London by German aircraft in World War II. In so doing, he damaged his reputation with the British. This move prompted Randolph Churchill to say, "I thought my daffodils were yellow until I met Joe Kennedy". Kennedy developed a reputation as a defeatist . According to the U.S. National Archives: In London, the American Ambassador and his wife soared to
8680-412: The crime. In the memoir, Ellroy mentions that his mother's murder received little news coverage because the media were still fixated on the stabbing death of mobster Johnny Stompanato , who was dating actress Lana Turner . Frank C. Girardot , a reporter for The San Gabriel Valley Tribune , accessed files on Geneva Hilliker Ellroy's murder from detectives with Los Angeles Police Department. Based on
8804-539: The developer of photophone , a sound system for the new " talkies ", RCA needed to forge a connection with Hollywood to sell its product. At the same time Kennedy knew that he needed to compete in the new market of sound films and to do so he would have to have access to a technology that was not proprietary. Keen to buy the Pantages Theatre chain, which had 63 profitable theaters, Kennedy made an offer of $ 8 million (equivalent to $ 142 million in 2023). It
8928-567: The essay "My Mother's Killer" from My Dark Places for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American True Crime. Ellroy is currently writing a "Second L.A. Quartet" taking place during the Second World War , with some characters from the first L.A. Quartet and the Underworld USA Trilogy reappearing in younger depictions. The first book, Perfidia , was released on September 9, 2014. The second book
9052-469: The exclusive American agent for Haig & Haig Scotch, Gordon's Dry Gin and Dewar's Scotch. Kennedy kept his Somerset company for years. In addition, Kennedy purchased spirits-importation rights from Schenley Industries , a Canadian distillery and liquor company. Though he possessed substantial investments in various shipping lines that imported significant shipments of liquor, Kennedy himself drank little alcohol. He so disapproved of what he considered
9176-479: The face of the Earth. ... Jews who take an unfair advantage of the fact that theirs is a persecuted race do not help much. ... Publicizing unjust attacks upon the Jews may help to cure the injustice, but continually publicizing the whole problem only serves to keep it alive in the public mind. When the White House read his quotes, it became clear that Kennedy was completely out of step with Roosevelt's policies. Kennedy
9300-470: The fact that I’m breaking baaaaaaaaad from tradition, in order to post this announcement." Ellroy posted that he had been inducted into the Everyman's Library series. Three Everyman's Library editions have been reprinted: The L.A. Quartet , The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, Volume I and The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, Volume II . The release dates for these editions, as well as This Storm: A Novel ,
9424-474: The files of the Los Angeles Police Department , a birthday gift from his father), were important events of Ellroy's youth. Ellroy's inability to come to terms with the emotions surrounding his mother's murder led him to transfer them onto another murder victim, Elizabeth Short . Nicknamed the "Black Dahlia," Short was a young woman murdered in 1947, her body cut in half and discarded in Los Angeles, in
9548-499: The film adaptions of his books or the scripts he wrote in the 2000s. Joseph Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was a patriarch of the Kennedy family , which included President John F. Kennedy , attorney general and senator Robert F. Kennedy , and longtime senator Ted Kennedy . Kennedy
9672-464: The frauds, the SEC had to end the million-dollar maneuvers in major corporations, whereby insiders with access to high-quality information about the company knew when to buy or sell their own securities. A crackdown on insider trading was essential. Finally, the SEC had to set up a complex system of registration for all securities sold in America, with a clear set of rules, deadlines and guidelines that all companies had to follow. The main challenge faced by
9796-455: The future President Kennedy to take an anti-Castro stance in his Cuban policy. It also puts him in the position to organize the collaboration between Cosa Nostra and the CIA in the Cuban cause. He falls in love with Laura Hughes, the secret daughter of Gloria Swanson and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. , half sister of the Kennedy brothers. Boyd also bears a resemblance to Robert Maheu, a close friend of
9920-423: The ground by the force of the blast. In 1923, he established his own investment company. Kennedy subsequently became a multi-millionaire as a result of taking " short " positions following the 1929 stock market crash. Kennedy was enlisted in 1924 to help stabilize the stock of John D. Hertz 's Yellow Cab Company , a taxi cab operator, against a bear raid ; afterward, Hertz suspected Kennedy of carrying out such
10044-447: The guy who wrote L.A. Confidential . They tell all the little old ladies who come in there to get their G-rated family flick. They come up to me, they say, "OOOO... you wrote L.A. Confidential ... Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful movie. I saw it four times. You don't see storytelling like that on the screen anymore." ...I smile, I say, "Yes, it's a wonderful movie, and a salutary adaptation of my wonderful novel. But listen, Granny: You love
10168-575: The heights of British society. In the spring of 1938...the couple luxuriated in the warmth of English hospitality, hobnobbing with aristocrats and royalty at the many balls, dinners, regattas, and derbies of the season. The highlight was surely the April weekend that they spent at Windsor Castle , guests of King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth . While getting dressed for an evening at Windsor Castle soon after he arrived, Kennedy paused in momentary reflection and remarked to his wife, "Well, Rose, this
10292-589: The historical cast include mob bosses Sam Giancana , Carlos Marcello , Santo Trafficante Jr. , and John Roselli . Others include Peter Lawford , Frank Sinatra , and J. D. Tippit . In 2002, it was reported that Bruce Willis optioned the rights to produce and star in a TV miniseries based on American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand . Willis's option expired before he produced the series. In 2008, Daily Variety reported that HBO , along with Tom Hanks 's production company, Playtone , were developing American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand for either
10416-527: The issue for him is not monogamy, but cohabitation. Ellroy joined Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1970s. In 1981, Ellroy published his first novel, Brown's Requiem , a detective story drawing on his experiences as a caddie. He then published Clandestine and Silent Terror (which was later published under the title Killer on the Road ). Ellroy followed these three novels with the Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy . The novels are centered on Hopkins,
10540-497: The land acquisition of the largest privately owned building in the country, Chicago's Merchandise Mart (the world's largest building at the time), which gave his family an important base in that city and an alliance with the Irish-American political leadership there to lay the groundwork for realizing his sons' future political ambitions. The Merchandise Mart's revenues became a principal source of wealth that formed much of
10664-528: The logistics to frame right-wing radicals. Without being specific, Littell tips off Hoover about the plot, but due to Hoover's non-committal response he surmises that there is a second assassination plot which will take place several days later in Dallas . The three men determine that they were set up and begin to cover their tracks in Miami. Littell confronts Robert Kennedy with evidence of his father's collusion with
10788-637: The mob on his own. Through a series of snitches, Littell confirms that the Teamsters Union 's pension fund is being used to finance organized crime. Littell tracks the fund's supposed "secret" accounting books to the home of mid-level mobster Jules Schiffrin in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin , coercing Jack Ruby into searching Schiffrin's home. While waiting for Ruby, Littell is severely beaten by Bondurant; Ruby had tipped off Bondurant to Littell's operation, and Bondurant feared that Littell would endanger
10912-569: The mob, with the added intent that it will serve as an after-the-fact explanation of why the president would be killed. After killing several of the Miami conspirators, Bondurant leaves for Dallas while Boyd returns to Mississippi . Littell is waiting for Boyd at his hotel; Littell shoots Boyd, who dies thinking of President Kennedy. Bondurant, his new wife Barb Jahelka, and several mob associates, converge on Dallas on November 22, 1963. The book ends at 12:30 PM, as Kennedy's motorcade drives through Dealey Plaza , with Bondurant closing his eyes, awaiting
11036-461: The mob. Boyd also joins the employ of the Kennedy family, working on John's presidential campaign. Bondurant and Boyd ultimately collaborate with the CIA, the mob (seeking to retake its now-nationalized casinos in Havana ) and far right Cuban refugees plotting to overthrow Fidel Castro 's regime. Littell becomes increasingly frustrated with Hoover's anti-communist mandates and begins investigating
11160-405: The movie. Did you go out and buy the book ?" And Granny invariably says, "Well, no, I didn't." And I say to Granny, "Then what the fuck good are you to me?" Shortly after viewing three hours of unedited footage for Brian De Palma 's adaptation of The Black Dahlia , Ellroy wrote an essay, "Hillikers", praising De Palma and his film. Ultimately, nearly an hour was removed from the final cut. Of
11284-731: The murder of Sal Mineo . Reminiscent of how he investigated his mother's unsolved murder, Ellroy worked with Glynn Martin, an ex-LAPD officer, the LAPD Museum's current executive director, and co-author of LAPD '53 . Ellroy wrote about this investigation for The Hollywood Reporter in digital form on December 21, 2018, and it also appeared in published form in the December 18, 2018, issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Early in January 2019, Ellroy posted news on jamesellroy.net, writing, "I’m digitally illiterate, so you’ve got to gas on
11408-508: The novel by cutting every unnecessary word from every sentence, creating a unique style of prose. While each sentence on its own is simple, the cumulative effect is a dense, baroque style. While his early novels earned him a cult following and notice among crime fiction buffs, Ellroy earned much greater success and critical acclaim with the L.A. Quartet — The Black Dahlia , The Big Nowhere , L.A. Confidential , and White Jazz . The four novels represent Ellroy's change of style from
11532-516: The novels The Black Dahlia (1987) and L.A. Confidential (1990). Lee Earle "James" Ellroy was born in Los Angeles. His mother, Geneva Odelia (née Hilliker), was a nurse. His father, Armand, was an accountant and a onetime business manager of Rita Hayworth . His parents divorced in 1954, after which Ellroy and his mother moved to El Monte, California . At the age of seven, Ellroy saw his mother naked and began to sexually fantasize about her. He struggled in youth with this obsession, as he held
11656-507: The present-tense memory of the protagonists. The novel centers around the three principal characters: Pete Bondurant, a former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy who presently works for billionaire Howard Hughes and runs small-time shakedowns ; Kemper Boyd, an FBI agent who covets wealth and power; and Ward Littell, another FBI agent who is Boyd's friend and former partner. Although assigned to monitor communist activities , Littell's abiding hatred of organized crime leads him to vie for
11780-431: The rampant stock speculation of the late 1920s would lead to a market crash . It is said that he knew it was time to get out of the market when he received stock tips from a shoe-shine boy, but no evidence has been found of the anecdote and the first known version of the same tale was associated to Bernard Baruch in 1957. Kennedy survived the crash "because he possessed a passion for facts, a complete lack of sentiment and
11904-598: The released film, Ellroy told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , "Look, you're not going to get me to say anything negative about the movie, so you might as well give up." He had, however, mocked the film's director, cast, and production design before it was filmed. Ellroy co-wrote the original screenplay for the 2008 film Street Kings but refused to do any publicity for the finished film. In September 2008, Daily Variety reported that HBO , along with Tom Hanks 's production company, Playtone ,
12028-475: The rest of my career. I don't know where and when." On April 29, 2015, Ellroy and Lois Duncan were the Grandmasters at the 2015 Edgar Awards . Ellroy has frequently espoused conservative political views. In 2019, Ellroy described himself as anti-totalitarian, conservative, and a Tory , adding "Underneath my profane exterior, I'm very concerned with decorum, with probity, with morality, and I have
12152-417: The shots and screams. Pete Bondurant is a French-Canadian, ex-law enforcement, Hollywood insider, organized-crime associate, and bodyguard for Howard Hughes . He bears superficial resemblances to historical figures Fred Otash , (so-called "private-eye to the stars") and Robert Maheu , (who worked for both Hughes and Jimmy Hoffa during the time frame depicted in the book). Bondurant first appears as
12276-497: The side, true-blued, tattooed and bah fongooed. These are books for the whole fuckin' family, if the name of your family is Manson. Another aspect of his public persona involves an almost comically grand assessment of his work and his place in literature. For example, he told the New York Times , "I am a master of fiction. I am also the greatest crime novelist who ever lived. I am to the crime novel in specific what Tolstoy
12400-542: The time of its release. In succeeding years, however, his comments have been more reserved: L.A. Confidential , the movie, is the best thing that happened to me in my career that I had absolutely nothing to do with . It was a fluke—and a wonderful one—and it is never going to happen again —a movie of that quality. Here's my final comment on L.A. Confidential , the movie: I go to a video store in Prairie Village, Kansas . The youngsters who work there know me as
12524-399: The time. Kennedy emerged as an astute businessman who possessed an eye for value , both with regard to his shrewd entrepreneurial acumen and savvy investment foresight. For example, as an active real estate investor , he turned a handsome profit from his privately-controlled ownership of Old Colony Realty Associates, Inc., an investment company which bought distressed real estate throughout
12648-451: The tradition of classic modernist noir fiction of his earlier novels to what has been classified as postmodern historiographic metafiction . The Black Dahlia , for example, fused the real-life murder of Elizabeth Short with a fictional story of two police officers investigating the crime. In 1995, Ellroy published American Tabloid , the first novel in a series informally dubbed the " Underworld USA Trilogy " that Ellroy describes as
12772-487: The wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Boyd and Bondurant encourage the mob to authorize an assassination attempt on Castro. When the mob passes on the opportunity, they surmise that the mob is now backing Castro. Enraged, they execute a plan wherein they steal millions of dollars in heroin as it comes to shore from Cuba in the hopes of recouping their losses from the failed invasion. In collusion with Littell, Bondurant begins running
12896-481: The wiretap, fingers Boyd as the person trying to set up the president; he fires Boyd from the Justice Department, severing his ties with the Kennedys. Upon figuring out that Boyd and Bondurant were behind the theft of their heroin, Littell relays the mob's price to atone for the theft: killing President Kennedy. Boyd, Bondurant and Littell plot to assassinate Kennedy during a motorcade in Miami and arrange
13020-522: The worst moments of my life, and I don't for a moment doubt it." In 2014, Ellroy stated that "I'm a Christian. I believe we are all one soul united in God", adding that he is "conservative and theocratic". Ellroy has stated that his faith has influenced his novels, describing them as "stories of redemption." He described his 2021 novel Widespread Panic as "very much a Christian novel." Several of Ellroy's works have been adapted to film, including Blood on
13144-466: The young lawyers was drafting precise rules. The SEC succeeded in its four missions, as Kennedy reassured the American business community that they would no longer be deceived and taken advantage of by Wall Street. He trumpeted for ordinary investors to return to the market and enable the economy to grow again. Kennedy's reforming work as SEC Chairman was widely praised on all sides, as investors realized
13268-466: Was Time 's Best Book (Fiction) for 1995. It is the first novel in Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy , followed by The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover . American Tabloid is divided into five sections. As do the other two Underworld USA books, it contains exactly one hundred chapters (many less than a page in length), and covers exactly five years. The narration eschews both exposition and lengthy dialog exchanges. All chapters begin with
13392-495: Was recalled from his diplomatic duties and returned to the United States. Roosevelt urgently needed his support to hold the Catholic vote and invited him to spend the night at the White House. Kennedy agreed to make a nationwide radio speech to advocate Roosevelt's reelection. Roosevelt was pleased with the speech because, Nasaw says, it successfully "rallied reluctant Irish Catholic voters to his side, buttressed his claims that he
13516-517: Was June 4, 2019. Ellroy added, "Stay stirringly tuned to this website for further updates" and simply signed the finished post Ellroy, inserting a dog's pawprint below it. In 2022 Ellroy, a long-time fan of Chester Himes , wrote the introduction to Himes's classic, 'A Rage in Harlem'. In his hard-bitten style, Ellroy raves that "'A Rage in Harlem' features a mind-mauling array of chump-change hustles, lurid larcenies, and malicious mischief."The novel
13640-716: Was a leading member of the Democratic Party and of the Irish Catholic community. President Roosevelt appointed Kennedy to be the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which he led from 1934 to 1935. Kennedy later directed the United States Maritime Commission . Kennedy served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1938 to late 1940. With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Kennedy
13764-567: Was born into a political family in East Boston , Massachusetts. He made a large fortune as a stock and commodity market investor, and later rolled over his proceeds by dedicating a substantial amount of his wealth into investment-grade real estate and a wide range of privately controlled businesses across the United States. During World War I he was an assistant general manager of a Boston area Bethlehem Steel shipyard; through that position he became acquainted with Franklin D. Roosevelt , who
13888-506: Was declined. He then stopped distributing his movies to Pantages. Still, Alexander Pantages declined to sell. However, when Pantages was later charged and tried for rape, his reputation took a battering, and he accepted Kennedy's revised offer of $ 3.5 million (equivalent to $ 62.1 million in 2023). Pantages, who claimed that Kennedy had "set him up", was later found not guilty at a second trial. The girl who had accused Pantages of rape, Eunice Pringle , confessed on her deathbed that Kennedy
14012-450: Was developing American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand for either a miniseries or ongoing series. In a September 2009 interview, Ellroy himself stated, "All movie adaptations of my books are dead." In a November 2012 interview, when asked about how movie adaptations distort his books, he remarked, "[Film studios] can do whatever the [fuck] they want as long as they pay me." As of 2023, Ellroy refuses to answer any questions about both
14136-457: Was excellent. Various criminals, such as Frank Costello , have boasted they worked with Kennedy in mysterious bootlegging operations during Prohibition . Although his father was in the whisky importation business, scholars dismiss the claims. The most recent and most thorough biographer David Nasaw asserts that no credible evidence has been found to link Kennedy to bootlegging activities. When Fortune magazine published its first list of
14260-470: Was heavily involved in the political careers of his sons. Three of Kennedy's sons attained distinguished political positions: John served as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and as the 35th president of the United States, Robert as the U.S. attorney general and as a U.S. senator from New York, and Ted as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. was born on September 6, 1888, at 151 Meridian Street in East Boston, Massachusetts . Kennedy
14384-550: Was involved in was the importation of large shipments of high-priced Scotch where he earned a handsome profit in the process. Various contradictory "bootlegging" stories surrounding Kennedy have circulated but historians have not accepted them. At the start of the Franklin Roosevelt administration in March 1933, Kennedy and future Congressman James Roosevelt II founded Somerset Importers, a business entity that acted as
14508-491: Was not going to take the nation into war, and emphasized that he alone had the experience to lead the nation in these difficult times." After Roosevelt was reelected, Kennedy submitted his resignation as ambassador. Throughout the rest of the war, relations between Kennedy and the Roosevelt administration remained tense, especially when Joe Jr., a Massachusetts delegate at the 1940 Democratic National Convention , vocally opposed President Roosevelt's unprecedented nomination for
14632-525: Was originally published in France in 1958 where it won France's 'Grand Prix de Littérature Policière', and was most recently re-published by Vintage Books. In 2023, at the LA Times Festival of Books , Ellroy revealed, in light of his latest book The Enchanters and his editors' response to it, that he had abandoned his previous plans to write a 'Second L.A. Quartet' and would instead turn it into
14756-515: Was pessimistic about Britain's ability to survive attacks from Nazi Germany . During the Battle of Britain in November 1940, Kennedy publicly suggested, "Democracy is finished in England. It may be here [in the United States]." After a controversy regarding this statement, Kennedy resigned his position. Kennedy was married to Rose Fitzgerald ; the couple had nine children. During his later life he
14880-419: Was relief: he could now live with his father, whom he preferred. His father was more permissive and allowed Ellroy to do as he pleased, namely be "left alone to read, to go out and peep through windows, prowl around and sniff the air." The police never found his mother's killer, and the case still remains unsolved. The murder, along with reading The Badge by Jack Webb (a book comprising sensational cases from
15004-556: Was that they generated bad publicity in the West for the Nazi regime, a concern that he communicated in a letter to Charles Lindbergh . Kennedy had a close friendship with Viscountess Astor , and their correspondence is replete with anti-Semitic statements. According to Edward Renehan: As fiercely anti-Communist as they were anti-Semitic, Kennedy and Astor looked upon Adolf Hitler as a welcome solution to both of these "world problems" (Nancy's phrase). ... . Kennedy replied that he expected
15128-526: Was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In the 1920s Kennedy made huge profits by reorganizing and refinancing several Hollywood studios; several acquisitions were ultimately merged into Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) studios. Kennedy increased his fortune with distribution rights for Scotch whisky . He owned the largest privately owned building in the country, Chicago's Merchandise Mart . Kennedy
15252-563: Was the elder son of Mary Augusta (née Hickey) Kennedy and businessman and politician Patrick Joseph "P.J." Kennedy . Kennedy attended Boston Latin School , where he excelled at baseball and was elected class president before graduating in 1908. Kennedy then attended Harvard College , where he gained admittance to the prestigious Hasty Pudding Club but was not invited to join the Porcellian Club . Kennedy graduated in 1912 with
15376-679: Was the mastermind of the plot to frame Pantages. Many estimate that Kennedy made over $ 5 million (equivalent to $ 88.7 million in 2023) from his investments in Hollywood. During his three-year affair with film star Gloria Swanson , he arranged the financing for her films The Love of Sunya (1927) and the ill-fated Queen Kelly (1928). The duo also used Hollywood's famous "body sculptor", masseuse Sylvia of Hollywood . Their relationship ended when Swanson discovered that an expensive gift from Kennedy had actually been charged to her account. As soon as it became legal to do so, Kennedy ventured into liquor importing. One of his shipping ventures he
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