Capone author’s tour hits brewery, thanks to Ness

Seventy-nine years ago this spring, Eliot Ness’ squad of “Untouchables” bashed down the doors of Al Capone’s brewery in Cicero, Ill. and took an axe to 14 vats filled with thousands of gallons of Capone’s beer. This Friday, Jonathan Eig will pay a much more polite visit to Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewery. Over lunch and some Eliot Ness Amber Lagers, the author from Chicago will talk about his new book, Get Capone, and its portrayals of the famed Prohibition agent and history’s ultimate gangster.

Eig’s vivid, fast-paced account of the rakish crime boss’ rise to power reveals how federal officials struggled to find some way – any way -- to put Capone in prison. Ness, who spent seven years crusading as Cleveland’s safety director, appears on only about 15 pages.

“I was struck by his intelligence and his honesty,” Eig says -- but he argues that during the Capone investigation, Ness “was well-meaning but mostly ineffective.” His brewery raids didn’t contribute to the tax charges that did Capone in. Ness’ early investigations of Chicago Heights bootleggers didn’t impress the author either. “He didn’t really have the character for undercover work,” Eig says. “He was better at public jobs: getting interviews, getting attention.”

Even in Cleveland, where Ness fought police corruption, racketeers, gamblers and the Mob, “He was a troubled man in many ways,” Eig says. “He had very high standards for himself as public figure, but his personal life often got in the way.” He’s referencing Ness’ failure to solve the Torso Murders, his public drinking, and his two divorces, which eroded his reputation.

Cleveland knows the real Ness: Complex, sometimes tragic, and more interesting than the squeaky-clean mythic hero. Clevelanders “knew him in the mature years of his career,” Eig says. “They saw him at times as a flawed person. In Chicago, nobody really knew him until he was gone.”

Eig will include Ness in his noontime Friday talk at the brewery and his more sober appearance Thursday night at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. But he’ll focus on Capone, whose voice leaps off the pages of his book, his wit as quick and piercing as tommy-gun bullets.

“He was a jovial guy,” says Eig. “People enjoyed his company. He was a man’s man. He liked going hunting and fishing and going to the track. People really enjoyed being with him.”

Capone still fascinates us because he pursued the American Dream, Eig says. “He did it with machine guns, which isn’t the traditional way, but he was an immigrant kid with an amazing opportunity to rise from mediocrity to greatness.

“He does this with a certain flair. He doesn’t just want to be the meanest, toughest gangster. He wanted to have style, wanted to dress elegantly. That makes him intriguing.”

(Photo from Cleveland State University's Cleveland Press collection.)

Stories of People and Produce

Maury Feren is not your typical 94 year old. He’s as engaged, busy, and productive as when I first met him. That was 1993 and I interviewed him for a story that appeared in the Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine (remember when the PD had a real Sunday mag?). I admired his energy then, and I am even more in awe of it now. The guy’s had multiple careers and been successful at all of them. He spent thirty years as a wholesale produce merchant, started and ran a fruit basket company, published a guide to fruits and vegetables, and appeared regularly on radio and TV, eventually hosting his own shows. Not content to call it a day, Feren, nicknamed Cleveland’s Produce King, just self-published his autobiography.

Called Wheeling and Dealing in My World, (Windjammer Adventure Publishing, $15.95) it is the classic American story of a self-made man and a true Cleveland tale. He talks about neighborhood life as the child of immigrant parents in the early years of the 20th century, the Depression, and his service in World War II. It’s sure to evoke memories for others who grew up here around the same time and those who like him went off to fight in Europe. But the heart of the book is the collection of behind the scene stories from the produce business and the characters that populated the Northeast Ohio Food Terminal where he worked. It was a tough world filled with rough men willing to sweat- and fight- for every dollar. The last section of the book reprises his anise to watercress primer with tips on selecting, storing, and using fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs.

The book is intensely personal and idiosyncratic; a sort of extended conversation with the man and the voice is pure Feren. What he’s written is a memory collection, a love note to his wife, and a long thanks to mentors, friends, and all who helped him along the way. The author will be signing copies of his book this Sunday, May 9 at Miles Farmer’s Market from noon to 4 PM, and on Tuesday, May 11, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, at 7 PM.