emu - Detroit Book Fest

Win a FREE Autographed Copy of ‘The Elusive Purple Gang: Detroit’s Kosher Nostra’ signed by author GREGORY A. FOURNIER!

The Elusive Purple Gang: Detroit’s Kosher Nostra

We are raffling off 3 autographed copies of ‘The Elusive Purple Gang: Detroit’s Kosher Nostra‘ signed by author Gregory A. Fournier!

*3 winners will be selected at random. Enter now for your chance to win!*

https://detroitbookfest.com/enter-to-win/

The raffle will run from Monday, December 16 to Sunday, December 22.

The Purple Gang (photo courtesy of Google)

The Elusive Purple Gang: Detroit’s Kosher Nostra is a concise history of one of America’s most notorious Prohibition gangs, The Purple Gang.

The Bernstein brothers and their associates were the only Jewish gang in the United States to dominate the rackets of a major American city. From their meteoric rise to the top of Detroit’s underworld to their ultimate demise, this book is an episodic account of the Purple Gang’s corrosive pursuit of power and wealth and their inevitable plunge towards self-destruction.

The Purple Gang (photo courtesy of Google)

The Purple Gang is well-known in Michigan. They were around from the 1910’s to 1932.

Some lesser known stuff about the Purples I’ve heard and read includes the following:

In 1930, my Grandpa lived at 638 East Ferry Street, Detroit. He would frequently see the Purple Gang hanging out in the back of a candy shop on Hastings Street and Medbury Street. This is the current spot of the 94 and 75 interchange.

The Purple Gang were responsible for an estimated 500 murders in 5 years and many of them wound up in Jacktown (aka: Jackson Prison), the world’s largest walled prison at the time. Rampant corruption allowed The Purples to run the prison from within.

The Sugar House Bar at 2130 Michigan Avenue Detroit is named in honor of the Purples old 1920’s hangout called The Sugar House on Oakland Avenue. The current bar is a cool, dimly lit, narrow, speakeasy-type place, check it out.

The Leland Hotel was built in 1927 at 400 Bagley St, Detroit. The Purple Gang murdered someone in the lobby of the Leland in 1930. The Leland is now an apartment building.

Harry ‘Chinky’ Meltzer (Sept 23, 1910-Nov 3, 1993) lived in Detroit. His dad opened the Schvitz Oakland Ave Bathhouse in 1930. The Purple Gang used to meet frequently at the bathhouse. Currently, the bathhouse still stands and looks the same.

After Prohibition, several of the Purples relocated to Albion, Michigan, which is about 1hr 30mins west of Detroit.

In 1946, a Michigan Senator in Albion was going to turn states evidence. So, a few incarcerated Purples borrowed a car from Jackson Prison, drove to Springport, Michigan, assassinated the Senator and drove back to prison. As a reward for their work, the Purples were taken to the Pearl Street bordello for some fun.

About the Author

Gregory A. Fournier author

Detroit native and Literary Classics gold medal award-winning author Gregory A. Fournier received his bachelor and master’s degrees in Language Arts from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti.

His other titles include: Zug Island, Terror In Ypsilanti, and The Richard Streicher Jr. Murder.

Fournier writes short history posts for his blog Fornology, and he has appeared on the Investigation Discovery Channel as a guest expert on John Norman Collins for the series A Crime to Remember in an episode entitled “A New Kind of Monster.”

Greg’s book will be an historical and exciting read. Check it out!

Fornology blog

https://fornology.blogspot.com/

Homepage

https://gregoryafournier.com/

We are raffling off 3 autographed copies of ‘The Elusive Purple Gang: Detroit’s Kosher Nostra‘ signed by author Gregory A. Fournier!

*3 winners will be selected at random. Enter now for your chance to win!*

https://detroitbookfest.com/enter-to-win/

The raffle will run from Monday, December 16 to Sunday, December 22.

Purple Gang leader, Abe Bernstein (photo courtesy of Gregory A. Fournier)

The Purple Gang (photo courtesy of Google)

Detroit Prohibition (photo courtesy of Google)

The Purple Gang (photo courtesy of Google)

Recently Announced: Dearborn’s MAGIC CARPET THEATRE will be doing live literary-themed street theater at Detroit Bookfest!

We are excited to announce that Magic Carpet Theatre, a live theater troupe based in Dearborn, Michigan, will be performing literary-themed street theater at Detroit Bookfest on Sunday, July 21, 2019.

Weather-permitting, they will be performing from Noon to 1 p.m. along Division Street, between Shed 3 and Shed 4 at Detroit’s Eastern Market.

Catherine Zardus, founder and artistic director of MCT, has been promoting literacy via live theater for over 25 years.

She studied acting and the oral interpretation of literature and graduated with a Bachelor’s from Eastern Michigan University and a Master’s from Wayne State University.

“Each performance engages imaginations and promotes literacy,” she said.

Their mission is to inspire imaginations and promote literacy by bringing literature to life.

They have touched the hearts of over 200,000– performing in schools, libraries, churches and events all over the state including Jazzin’ on Jefferson, The Fairytale Festival, and several engagements at Campus Martius.

Having performed at dozens of schools throughout the city, Magic Carpet Theatre helps children realize the joy of books, the magic of theatre, and the power of their own imaginations.

Magic Carpet Theatre will bring your favorite children’s books to life!

They will get the crowd roaring with “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Pierre” by Maurice Sendak. The audience will create the sound effects for the storm in “The Fisherman and his Wife” and will role-play in “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss.

Come join the fun!

3rd Annual Detroit Festival of Books

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Eastern Market

Shed 3

Detroit, MI

MCT is performing Noon to 1.p.m. outside on Division Street (between Russell Street and Riopelle Street)

Homepage

http://www.magiccarpettheatre.org/

Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/MagicCarpetTheatre25/

MCT Drama Ministry

http://www.mctdramaministry.org/home.html

Twitter

https://twitter.com/mcarpettheatre

Master Barber Ryan Griffin’s ‘Read to Your Barber’ Literacy Program is Bringing Books to Ypsilanti!

Master Barber Ryan Griffin graduated Eastern Michigan University in 2004.

He now owns Griff’s Unlimited Cutz, a cool barbershop in Ypsilanti, Michigan, known equally for Ryan’s haircut abilities and his passion for encouraging a love of books in young people who sit in his barber chair.

In 2015, Ryan was working at The Fuller Cut Barber Shop in Ypsi when he created the Read To Your Barber Literacy Program.

Master Barber Ryan Griffin’s ‘Read to Your Barber’ Literacy Program is Bringing Books to Ypsilanti!

His shop provides books to young people, so they can read out loud to the barber, while he’s cutting their hair. In addition to this, he might even give you a discount on the bill for reading to him!

“Any help these kids can get with reading and comprehension is a big thing,” Ryan says.

According to Eastern Magazine, Ryan is starting a project called ‘12 Shops, 12 Libraries‘ where he will give fellow Southeast Michigan barber shops a box of 30 books and a bookshelf if they want to put a library into their own barbershop.

Ryan, we here at Detroit Festival of Books are inspired by your amazing efforts to help encourage a love of books in young humans! Keep up the great work!