The Pied Piper of South Shore -
Subtitle: Toys and Tragedy in Chicago
Publisher: CMA Publishing
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Chicago Illinois
Format: True Crime - Chicago History
Number of pages: 281
Description: Toy store owner Manny Lazar, known as the Pied Piper of South Shore, was shot and killed in front of his wife, Belle, by a Chicago gang member in 1970. He died in the place he loved best, the Wee Folks toy store he and his wife had run for twenty-five years in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago. The Pied Piper of South Shore: Toys and Tragedy in Chicago is the true story of the tragic death of this beloved retailer told in gritty detail by his eldest daughter. But it’s also the story of two children of immigrants, their American dream, and their richly diverse neighborhood, each falling prey to the brutality of gangs. Enhanced by her own recollections of working in her parents’ store—and by the fond reminiscences of dozens of former Wee Folks customers—Caryn Amster’s tale is a heady ride from persecution in Russia to freedom in America, from Hula Hoops to hit men, from murder to trial. It is the story of loss but also of survival, and even forgiveness.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Forward – by Mandy Patinkin; title: 1.	The Day the Laughter Died; title: 2.	The Folks Behind Wee Folks; title: 3.	Baby Steps – The Beginning; title: 4.	The Fabulous Fifties, Yo-Yos, Hula-Hoops, Santa Claus and Crisis!; title: 5.	The Very Grand Opening Day; title: 6.	The Scary 60’s; title: 7.	The Birth of Two Nations; title: 8.	Trials; title: Epilogue; title: Addendum chapters; title: I.   The 79th Street Culture – A walk down 79th Street from Stony Island to Jeffrey; title: II.  Toy Stories – Amazing true stories of how the most popular toys in the ‘50s and; title: ‘60s got their start.; title: Bibliography