October 17th, 1849, Frédéric François Chopin died in Paris. I have the book “Polonaise, The Life of Chopin” by Guy De Pourtales, published 1927. Polonaise is a type of dance in Poland. Chopan wrote many Polonaises to be played by Piano.
This is a good biography of Chopin. I discussed a triligy of books written by this author on August 25th. I also have this book “Tabulated Biographial History of Music”, by Oscar Thompson, published in 1936. This interesting book has different plates breaking down time periods in history, then divided by various composers and musicians.
Plate Nine (1825-1849) is an interesting one, over four feet long. While Chopin information was also in Plate Eight, most was in the the later timeline. There were many entries, from his first published work in 1825, to his duet for two pianos with Franz Liszt in 1834, to his last concert in 1848, to his death in 1849.
October 17th, 1931, Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion, and later sentenced to prison. I have a book that gives a good acount of his story, “Capone: the Life and World of Al Capone” by John Kobler, published in 1971.
This book is well written about both the public and private life of Al Capone, well researched. I enjoyed the read.
My Mother-In-law, right before my bachelor’s party, had a meal for my groomsmen. She had a great lasagna dinner using her Italian grandmother’s recipe. After dinner, she brought out a chocolate cake, and a big, I mean really big, knife. As she raised her hand with the knife to cut the cake, she first pointed it at my friends.
With a serious face, she said “I have friends and family in the Mafia. If anything happens to my future son-in-law, something will happen to you.” She then said “enjoy the cake,” as she walked out of the room.
After the wedding, (there was not too much that happened at the bachelor party-excepting perhaps a short stay at a local police station jail. My uncle, a lawyer, was able to later ‘fix’ things.) I decided to do family research on my wife’s family. I was curious about mob connections.
I found a clue in The Chicago Daily Tribune, for Saturday October 22, 1932. The last page always had photographs, and then in the newspaper would be a related article. On that day there was a gangster shooting, one of ‘Fat Tony’ Jerfita, a 250 pound local bookmaker and town Idler, who was found shot dead in his still running car. He was supposedly an uncle to the family.
I did a little more research and found out that my Mother-in-law’s father (Norman Tenner) was actually named Nicolas Tenori from Italy. He Americanized his name when arrived in the US. I still remember the Statue of Liberty ceramic he had hanging from his living room wall.
I made a visit to see him, and talk about family history. When I mentioned ‘Fat Tony’ Jerfita, he got very angry, and said “The past is the past. No more questions.” He would not even talk to me for the next several years. Every time I saw him at family functions, I would apologise, but he would just walk away. Finally at his eightieth birthday, he smiled at me, and asked how his granddaughter (my wife) was, and then about my kids. He remembered me, forgave me, and I could talk again with him-just not about the past.
I later found out that my mother-in-law’s father was a band member at the ballroom of the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, as was his sister’s husband George. Most hotels that had a ballroom hired their own band. That particular hotel rumoured to be headquarters for a time, to Al Capone. It is said that Capone’s ghost still roams the halls.
Coincidences? Perhaps? But I minded my P’s and Q’s for a long time with my wife’s family. I did not want a repeat of “Leave the gun, take the connoli.”
Librarytomes 