 In Chicago, mob bosses seldom ride around in flashy cars or dress in ways that draw attention to themselves. Except for their line of "work," they're like everybody else. Despite dad's high-up connections to guy like Jackie Cerone, when we started working on our memoir, we agreed it was a shame dad never met Tony Accardo (known as Joe to his friends). It would have added another dimension to our history, but their paths never crossed.
Turns out another family member checked that box, and we didn't even know it. Back in 1977, Mike's future wife, Lou Ann, got a job working in the coat check room at the Carlisle through Nick Vangel – the man the FBI called “Nick the caterer.” The Carlisle was the go-to place for mob wedding, graduations, and other celebrations. Lou Ann said, “You always knew when it was a mob wedding because the FBI was in the parking lot; and when you made the table arrangements, everyone was against the back wall.” During one wedding reception, an old man came out of the ballroom and sat in a big chair next to the coat check room. He asked if she minded if he smoked a cigar. His wife wouldn’t let him smoke around her. Lou Ann didn’t mind and happily passed the time chatting with the old man. As they talked, Lou Ann noticed Nick giving her the eye. When she walked to the other side of the lobby, Nick asked, “Do you know who that man is?” She said, “Yeah, he’s the bride’s grandpa.” Nick looked at her sideways when she didn’t react. “That’s Tony Accardo. Tony Accardo!” The name meant nothing to her. Nick stared at her and said, “He’s the mob boss of Chicago.” Lou Ann didn’t follow the who’s who of mob hierarchy and didn't care. But she humored her boss. “Should I call him Mr. Accardo?” At the end of the night, the old man gave her a $100 bill when he retrieved his wife’s mink coat. We had no idea Lou Ann had this encounter until we started talking about the book. It never came up in conversation before. Turns out we're mob adjacent in ways we didn't even know! |
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