“One of my earliest childhood memories is getting birdshot picked out of my backside by my mother, Mary. My mother would say, “Tom, how come I’m always picking this stuff out of Francis’s behind?” My father, who always called her… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“You fat fuck,” I said and jumped up and decked him. I broke his jaw, and they expelled me permanently on the spot. Naturally,” — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Hoffa and Brennan formed a trucking company called Test Fleet. The “brains” and his partner put that company in their wives’ maiden names. Test Fleet had only one contract. It was with a Cadillac car carrier that had been having union problems with its Teamsters union independent owner-operator car haulers. This group of Teamsters held an unsanctioned wildcat strike. Angered… — Charles Brandt Copy Share
“People in those days didn’t display affection like they do today. I’m still learning how to be affectionate to my grandchildren. I don’t ever remember getting a kiss from my mother. I never even saw her kiss my kid brother, or my kid sister, Margaret. Not that anyone meant to play favorites, but Tom was my father’s favorite and Peggy… — Charles Brandt Copy Share
“Whispers was one of these short Italian guys in his early thirties that you’d see all around South Philly, just trying to get by with one hustle or another. This is not the same Whispers they blew up when they bombed his car around the same time. This is the other Whispers. I didn’t know the one they blew up;… — Charles Brandt Copy Share
“And under the contract, management couldn’t fire a Teamster unless they had certain grounds. They had none. Stealing was grounds only if they could… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“But back then we had to amuse ourselves, and fighting seemed to be all we had. Looking back, it was good for us. You… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Mary liked to arrange picnics with the kids, and we’d take them to the Willow Grove Amusement Park. I wasn’t always running. When they… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“And on the other side of the ledger, unions like the Teamsters often employed their own muscle, their own reigns of terror, including bombings, arsons, beatings, and murders. The warfare and violence were not just between labor and management. It was often between rival unions vying for the same membership. Sadly, it was often violence directed at rank-and-file union members… — Charles Brandt Copy Share
“Only in the movies or comic books do people say they want you to go and hit somebody. All they ever say is that… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“As I learned the ropes I learned that for many good and sound reasons the bosses and the captains sent a guy to whack… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“Russell had taken me with him to Cuba just when Castro was starting to kick everybody out and confiscate their casinos and racetracks and… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
“You didn’t know who to trust, but you kept taking cabbies aside and persuading them to sign a card. For some reason there were… — Charles Brandt Copy Share Image
