NEW YORK, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Mafia influence… political power ... assassination attempts… FBI investigations… family betrayal… checkbook journalism… celebrity lawsuits. They all merge together in a true family saga of two men who built empires in the 20th century that have left lasting impacts today.
In The Deeds of My Fathers: How My Grandfather and Father Built New York and Created the Tabloid World of Today, (a Philip Turner Book, with Rowman & Littlefield, October 11, $24.95; www.thedeedsofmyfathers.com), author Paul David Pope uncovers the startling untold story about his grandfather, Generoso Pope Sr., power broker of New York City, and Gene Pope, the publisher of The National Enquirer.
The book chronicles how Generoso Pope arrives in America at age 15 with ten dollars in his pocket, rises from the sand pits of Long Island and becomes the most successful Italian immigrant in U.S. history. Generoso fashions alliances with gangsters -- especially Frank Costello -- and politicians who help him achieve his goal of becoming a key figure in New York politics and the construction industry. As publisher of Il Progresso, the largest Italian-American weekly, he forms such a powerful political bloc that mayors, governors and even presidents seek his counsel.
After Generoso's death, his favored son Gene is forced out of the family by his jealous brothers and mother. With money borrowed from Costello -- his real-life godfather -- Gene buys the rundown New York Enquirer. Ultimately renaming it The National Enquirer, he builds circulation with his get-the-story-at-any-cost mantra, peaking at 7 million with the issue that featured a sensational photo of Elvis in the coffin -- and the shocking truth behind his death. No publication has had a bigger influence on today's celebrity-driven mass media more than the Enquirer.
Says Paul David Pope, who relied on more than 500 interviews, CIA and FBI files, material from presidential libraries and dozens of newspaper archives, "This is the story of the century. It's The Godfather Meets Citizen Kane -- except it's all true."
SOURCE The Deeds of My Fathers, LLC
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