The Deeds of My Fathers: How My Grandfather and Father Built New York and Created the Tabloid World of Today
This captivating true story reads like a cross between The Godfather and Citizen Kane. It chronicles the emergence in America of an Italian immigrant and his son whose deeds would make them among the most prominent practitioners of power and influence in the new world. Based on previously untapped sources, this engrossing book presents an archetypal story of the American century, told candidly by a consummate insider.
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This captivating true story reads like a cross between The Godfather and Citizen Kane. It chronicles the emergence in America of an Italian immigrant and his son whose deeds would make them among the most prominent practitioners of power and influence in the new world. Based on previously untapped sources, this engrossing book presents an archetypal story of the American century, told candidly by a consummate insider. Publishers Weekly Once considered the black sheep of America's publications, the National Enquirer is celebrated on the eve of its 60th anniversary by Pope's powerful biography of its creators, the family patriarchs. The book, which sometimes reads like a straightforward Puzo sequel, chronicles the arrival of Generoso Pope, the author's grandfather on these shores with and no prospects; Gene, Generoso's son and publisher of the scandalous tabloid; and the realization of the ultimate American immigrant dream. Its chapters detail the Pope men's achievements, the grandfather's construction firm building some of Gotham's landmarks and the father's grooming of a struggling paper into a major publication. Crowded with presidents, celebrities, and mobsters, this bio of ambitious alpha males, in a dysfunctional clan worthy of a soap opera, is among the best portraits of Italian-American life to appear in some time. (Oct.)
Contents List of Photographs....................ixPope Family Tree....................xiiMap: Birthplace of Generoso Pope, Sr....................xiiiFOREWORD A Tale of Three Sons....................xvPROLOGUE A Meeting with Frank Costello....................xvii1 A Family Turns on Its Youngest....................32 A Coffin Built for Two....................183 The Warmth of a Horse's Neck....................244 Voyage to the New World....................325 Making Friends and Enemies in the Sand Pits....................416 "You Will Be Proud to Know that I Have Been Made a Boss."....................597 "Guinea Fucking Rockefeller"....................658 Uncle Frank Makes a Few Calls....................769 Delivering the Finished Product....................8710 The Favored Son, The Youngest One....................9511 Making a Friend of Mussolini....................10312 Advice for Mayor Walker....................12013 Everybody Loves a Parade....................12814 The Murder of Carlo Tresca....................14515 Gene Becomes the Boss....................16516 Gene Meets the Right Girl....................19117 Frank Costello's Photogenic Hands....................19718 "I Just Bought a Newspaper."....................20719 Scooping The New York Times....................21220 Roy Cohn Breaks a Newsstand Boycott....................22921 "This Is for You, Frank."....................24422 Fortune and Anthony Take a Bad Fall....................25423 Ugly Trends, Ugly Ends....................26324 Selling Supermarkets on Selling the Enquirer....................27425 "Liz Taylor's Not That Good an Actress."....................29226 An Epitaph for Elvis....................30627 The Last Christmas Tree....................326AFTERWORD The Enquirer Up for Sale....................347Appendix & Notes on Sources....................355Acknowledgments....................384Index....................385About the Author....................396
\ From Barnes & NobleAs one excited early reviewer noted, Paul David Pope's The Deeds of My Fathers has it all: "immigrants, moguls, presidents, Mafiosi, sex, success, loyalty, betrayal, and that most outrageous, scandalous, audacious and—as it turns out—imitated of media ventures, The National Enquirer." To amass that moveable feast, Pope spent ten years researching the lives of his Italian immigrant New Yorker powerbroker grandfather Generose Pope and his magazine publisher father Gene Pope, Jr. In the process, he and his researchers conducted more than 450 interviewed and generated over 50,000 pages. Repeatedly revelatory; deserves major reviews.\ \ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyOnce considered the black sheep of America's publications, the National Enquirer is celebrated on the eve of its 60th anniversary by Pope's powerful biography of its creators, the family patriarchs. The book, which sometimes reads like a straightforward Puzo sequel, chronicles the arrival of Generoso Pope, the author's grandfather on these shores with and no prospects; Gene, Generoso's son and publisher of the scandalous tabloid; and the realization of the ultimate American immigrant dream. Its chapters detail the Pope men's achievements, the grandfather's construction firm building some of Gotham's landmarks and the father's grooming of a struggling paper into a major publication. Crowded with presidents, celebrities, and mobsters, this bio of ambitious alpha males, in a dysfunctional clan worthy of a soap opera, is among the best portraits of Italian-American life to appear in some time. (Oct.)\ \ \ Publishers WeeklyThe National Enquirer is celebrated on the eve of its 60th anniversary by Pope's powerful biography of its creators, the family patriarchs. The book, which sometimes reads like a straightforward Puzo sequel, chronicles the arrival of Generoso Pope, the author's grandfather on these shores with $10 and no prospects; Gene, Generoso's son and publisher of the scandalous tabloid; and the realization of the ultimate American immigrant dream. Its chapters detail the Pope men's achievements, the grandfather's construction firm building some of Gotham's landmarks and the father's grooming of a struggling paper into a major publication. Crowded with presidents, celebrities, and mobsters, this bio of ambitious alpha males, in a dysfunctional clan worthy of a soap opera, is among the best portraits of Italian-American life to appear in some time.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)In writing this admiring account of his grandfather Generoso and father Gene -- 'two titans' who 'changed America''--Pope relied on more than 500 interviews as well as extensive research done for several unpublished books on the family and its enterprises, including two projects commissioned and later aborted by his father. The result is a richly detailed tale of businessmen, mobsters, and politicians that reads like a soap opera written by Mario Puzo. Beginning with Generoso's arrival in New York in 1906, at age 15, with little money, the author tells a multigenerational story in which the immigrant started out as a laborer in Long Island's sand pits, pursued his belief that 'America is a place of dreams coming true' and created a hugely successful building-supply company during New York's 1920s skyscraper boom. He received help from shady characters and shrewd operators, including mobster-friend Frank Costello and attorney Roy Cohn, who provided strong-arm and deal-making expertise in return for favors. The author writes that Gene later distanced the family from mobsters while making the Enquirer a national tabloid and ushering in the era of celebrity journalism. Patriarch Generoso emerges as a savvy opportunist who obtained dirt on his opponents to get his way. His favoring of like-minded Gene over two older sons created long-lived animosities within the family. Gene's mother even told him, 'You are the abortion I should have had.' Throughout the book, Pope provides engrossing stories about Il Progresso's influence in New York and national elections, the long battle to win a place for the sensational Enquirer at supermarket checkouts, and Gene's tyrannical insistence on concocting gripping articles for the tabloid's millions of readers. Also included are portraits of Mussolini, Frank Sinatra, A. J. Liebling, Carlo Tresca, Joe Bonanno and Joe Profaci. Readable and revealing, and the vividly re-created scenes cry out for film treatment.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalPaul David Pope here narrates the lives and careers of two successful Italian American businessmen: his grandfather and his father. The first section describes the life and career of Generoso Pope Sr., an early 20th-century immigrant to New York City who became the owner of the Italian language paper Il Progresso Italo-Americano in 1928. Generoso used Il Progresso to help elect various politicians, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The second half of the book chronicles the life of his son Generoso "Gene" Pope Jr., who bought the New York Enquirer and transformed it into the National Enquirer. This book by Gene Pope's son is written like a story in that magazine, with too much sex, murder, and corruption. The author would have done better to focus more on the broader picture, including the numerous charitable endeavors of both Popes. VERDICT Those looking for an objective study of Gene Pope might prefer Jack Vitek's The Godfather of Tabloid: Generoso Pope Jr. and the National Enquirer. Public libraries serving a large Italian American population are likely the only audience suited for this work. Not recommended.—Danielle Fischer, C.W. Post Coll. Lib., Brookville, NY\ \
