Umbrella Mike: The True Story of the Chicago Gangster Behind the Indy 500
Umbrella Mike, aka Michael Joseph Boyle--union official, friend of Al Capone, and auto-racing aficionado--is spiritedly limned in this Depression-era chronicle of a gangster's progress and the establishment of the Indianapolis 500 as the nation's preeminent auto race. Truly larger than life, Boyle got involved in the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup race, which introduced Nazism in motor sports. The Vanderbilt competition, which flourished 1904-16 and was revived in 1936 and 1937, attracted European as well as American drivers, thanks to a hefty prize purse. That auto racing got mixed up in the times' turbulent politics isn't surprising, but that Chicago gangsterism was part of the heady mix adds the brio that makes the book special. Until now, Boyle has been overlooked by students of the Chicago Outfit, and Yates does much to make amends. Needless to say, this is also a great book for auto-racing enthusiasts, an excellent shelf mate for Yates' pictorial study of the 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cup events,Vanderbilt Cup Race(1997).Mike TribbyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.