Rock Island, IL: Learn about 1920's crime boss John Patrick Looney from "Citadel of Sin" co-author Roger Ruthhart at a January 27 local history presentation at the Rock Island Library.
Ruthhart's remarks on Citadel of Sin: The John Looney Story will be presented at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the Rock Island Main Library, 401 19th Street. Ruthhart is the managing editor of The Dispatch and Rock Island Argus newspapers, and co-wrote a book of the same name in 2007 with local historian Richard Hamer.
Working from his base in Rock Island, Looney (1865-1947) maintained a criminal empire of gambling, prostitution, illegal liquor, stolen cars, and blackmail from Missouri to Wisconsin in the teens and 1920s. Though many associate him mainly with the scandal sheet newspaper that he used to slander and blackmail his enemies, FBI agents considered his crime ring as the "prototype for organized crime organizations that would spring up throughout the country," according to book jacket copy.
For more upcoming library events, visit library locations or the website at www.rockislandlibrary.org, follow Rock Island Library on Facebook or Twitter or call 309-732-READ (7323).
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Calendar of library programs: http://rockislandlibrary.
