My review of Last Don Standing:
The Secret Life of Mob Boss Ralph Natale appeared in the Washington Times.
Ralph Natale, the boss of the
Philadelphia-South Jersey Cosa Nostra organized crime family in the 1990s, was
the first mob boss to become a government witness.
He explains why in “Last Don
Standing: The Secret Life of Mob Boss Ralph Natale.” He agreed to become a
witness because he said that the men he left in charge of the crime family
after he was arrested in 1998 did not, as they swore to him they would do, provide
for his family while he was “inside.”
Natale’s bitterness toward
his former criminal associates enabled him to finally, after a lifetime in
organized crime, testify about Cosa Nostra crime. That same bitterness also led
him to allow Dan Pearson, the executive producer of the Discovery Channel’s “I
Married a Mobster,” and Larry McShane, a crime reporter and author of “The
Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante,” to write this book.
… The book offers a primer on
Philadelphia and New Jersey organized crime history. Although Natale was in
prison at the time, he says he heard all about the 1980 murder of Bruno and the
good number of other murders that led to Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo becoming
the boss. Scarfo’s murderous reign ended when he went to prison, which led to
Stanfa becoming the boss until he too went to prison.
I grew up in South Philly,
not far from where Natale was raised a generation earlier. I contacted him and
we talked about his life and the book. I noted that he didn’t appear to be
particularly remorseful or repentant in the book. Did he have any regrets about
his past criminal life?
“I have regrets about one
thing, I broke my marriage vows,” Natale replied. “That’s the only thing I
regret in my life. When I was 12 years old, I was a hoodlum. I was a born
killer, that’s what I did and why I rose to the top so easily. But I never
touched an innocent man or a woman or a child. I just clipped the guys who were
supposed to get clipped. And they went. It was a simple thing for me.”
You can read the rest of the
review via the below link:
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