The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli

BOOK REVIEW: Why We Love Serial Killers-The Curious Appeal of the World’s Most Savage Murderers by Scott Bonn, Phd

Interesting review of the book & society’s peculiar fascination with serial killers.

Confession time…admit it, you turn away in disgust when you see news of a Serial Killer on television, yet you will watch shows that cover the stories of such vile creatures. Clearly there is a large audience for these stories as the networks cover them almost weekly.

We watch interviews of neighbors and time after time hear them say how shocked they are to discover they lived next door to a serial killer, because he was “always a nice guy, always a good neighbor.”

Perhaps we don’t understand why these monsters aren’t more obvious to us. Most serial killers lead very normal lives and don’t “look” like monsters.

What is the fascination? Why are we shocked and disgusted, yet curious at the same time?

Author Scott Bonn, Phd is considered one of the world’s top experts on criminal behavior, and in his book, he explains our interest to us, and…

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I Was Never Cool by Joseph Musso Jr.

I Was Never Cool by Joseph Musso, Jr. tells the story of a young man’s struggle to find his own identity & fit in.

JANUARY GRAY REVIEWS

You can read this book in one sitting, or slowly savor it story by story day by day…as long as you read this book.

Author Joseph Musso Jr. opens a vein and bleeds out his stories and soul onto the pages. The words flow like poetry.

From family relationships, to not being invited to birthday parties, odd roommates and romantic relationships, you GET him in so many ways.

He shows how seemingly random events can have an influence on our nature, ideas and thoughts.

This is the brilliant mind of Joseph Musso Jr. sharing why he drinks wine now and how his trumpet playing made a dog fold its ears and a woman wince.

He shares uncool things in life that make the reader realize that even if you aren’t cool, (at least in the manner “society” likes to deem), you can still lead a satisfying and fulfilling life.

Intelligent and witty this is…

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Madame Stephanie St Clair: 40 Thieves Street Gang

stephanie-300x300 — Stephanie “Madame” St Clair

Stephanie St Clair aka Queenie aka Madame St Clair was a French immigrant who moved to New York City in 1912. She was born in 1886, originally in Martinique, an island in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean.

St Clair was a tough and fearless lady of the streets and even by modern day standards considered a force to be reckoned with.

In 1922 she invested $10k of her own money into a numbers bank in Harlem. Her numbers game was so profitable that the Jewish and Italian gangs wanted in on her hustle. She refused and battled not only other gangs but the local authorities. When the cops came knocking she took on the NYPD, testifying about kickbacks that she had paid to them in order to let her operate her illegal rackets. Her testimony resulted in the firing of more than a dozen New York police officers.

FACTS ABOUT STEPHANIE ST CLAIR

The first black Godmother

Affiliated with the infamous New York extortion gang, the 40 Thieves

Recruiter and mentor of Harlem’s first black Godfather, Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson

Ran a lucrative numbers operation which, unlike many of her male counterparts, never came under the control of the Italian mafia

Died in 1969 in Harlem –still very rich from the profits of her illegal numbers rackets

Stay tuned for my exclusive story on Madame St Clair. I am absolutely fascinated by this woman and the power she held. She was a true gangster and the time period of history in which she operated makes her a street legend.

It’s difficult to imagine women like her existed 100 years ago when ladies most certainly did not dominate in a man’s world –especially within the underworld.

Stephanie St Clair was a well protected and well respected BOSS. She single-handedly changed the game and she did it all with numbers.

When I think of Madame St Clair’s bold, striking femininity the Marilyn Monroe quote comes to mind…..

“I don’t mind living in a man’s world, as long as I can be a woman in it”