Books
In February, the Mob Museum—officially theNational Museum of
Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, which more accurately describes it,
but the other moniker is less of a mouthful—will open. I have been
pleased to be part of theresearch team and to consult on some of the
exhibits. All along, the Mob Museum has faced questions about
how honest it will be.
In some ways, that’s understandable: it was
the brainchild of former Mayor Oscar Goodman, who, as a defense
attorney, denied the mob existed. But from the beginning—strap me to
alie detector; I was there—Goodman has said he wants the truth. The
problem is, for some, believing otherwise is convenient. Also, what is
the truth? Mobsters didn’t exactly write memos outlining their planned
hits or how they would skim money. So we are left to sift what those
involved have said and what has been reported.
Which leads us to a book that brings to mind asportscaster named Jack Drees, who once
said, “You’re not going to believethis, but this is unbelievable.” It’s
the story of Wendy Mazaros, who worked with Las Vegas Sun reporter Joe
Schoenmann to produce Vegas Rag Doll: A True Story of Terror and
Survival asthe Wife of a Mob Hitman, published by Stephens Press. If
her name is unfamiliar, you might have heard of her previous husband,
Tom Hanley.
Now you’re in Mob Museum territory. Hanley was a
longtime … well, the bestword might be goon. He started adealer’s
union, or tried to, once the casinos quit paying him off to avoidtrying
too hard to unionize the dealers—seriously. He and his son Gramby
eventually killed Al Bramlet, thelegendary—and legendarily
controversial—leader of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas. Hanley also
was the subject of numerous rumors about a variety of killings and
bombings in Las Vegas andbeyond. Apparently, he and his son became two
of the leading hitmen in the Southwest, linked to seven homicides
andperhaps involved in several more.
So, you have an idea of where
the story might gowhen you read the first sentence: “Wendy only knew
the body in the freezer as ‘Old Joe.’” From there, you’re in for quite
aride. It’s a fascinating bookabout fascinating people.
Underpinning the terror and survival is some legitimately funny material
and some horrifying stuff, rooted in the realizationof what Mazaros
went through. Mazaros herself saw and lived through a lot. It’s hard
to read about her and not marvel that she isstill alive, leading what
certainly looks to be a happy life. But as Schoenmann makes clear—and
asbecomes clear when you get to know her, in this book or
personally—she still tends to look over her shoulder.
No wonder. The
personalities here include Benny and Ted Binion, Tony Spilotro,
andHarry Claiborne. All of them aredead, but either had connections or
were mired in controversy, or both—and afew of the other names are
still very much among us. They don’t all come off well, given that she
encounteredthem through Tom Hanley. Others apparently never met Hanley,
but John Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa are part of thestory, too. Although
he is mentioned and not discussed further, you might widen your eyes
about the briefpresence of Jim Gibbons, the former congressman
andgovernor.
The book also makes you think about the other side of
things. Two of her encounterswith Spilotro involve guns. Does that
surprise you? Given thereputation that Tony “the Ant” had, it
shouldn’t, except in both cases Spilotro was on the receiving end, with
Hanley threatening to kill him one ofthe times and shooting at his feet
the other time. If you have been around Las Vegas long enough, you may
have aSpilotro story, but the ones you tend to hear involve him being a
perfectgentleman or going to his sons’ little league games.
This
book has great value as a lesson, as Mazarosherself put it, about what
can happen to a teenaged runaway, as she was. More to the point of
this newsletter,it’s a history lesson, in a couple of ways. One, it’s
a reminder of an important part of Nevada’spast and the people who made
it so interesting.
Also, it’s a reminder about history itself.
It’s truly an argument without end,and it’s never so simple as too many
think. The depictions of some of the people in this book will
strike readers as different from what they have encountered elsewhere.
What Schoenmann and Mazaros tell us mayrevise how some Las Vegans are
viewed, and revise how those views already havebeen revised. This is
oneperson’s account but, as Schoenmann says and as George Knapp, the
longtime KLAS-TV newsman who has interviewed Mazaros agrees, what they
could check outabout what she said … checked out. It’s worth your time.