WWW- A JUICY book about Philadelphia's Irish underworld is back on shelves after the original publisher pulled the tome because of threats from a man described by the author as a reputed racketeer.
"Confessions of a Second-Story Man: Junior Kripplebauer and the K&A Gang," written by Temple University professor Allen M. Hornblum, originally came out last June. But it was promptly snatched from stores by Temple University Press after threats of legal action from reputed mobster John Berkery.
The book, a detailed account of the notorious K&A burglary crew that terrorized affluent suburbs around the country from the 1950s to 1970, was re-released last week by Lyle Stuart's Barricade Books.
Hornblum tells Page Six: "[Temple University Press] gave me back the book after sitting on it from June until late October. I feel like a woman after an 18-month pregnancy 'cause this damn thing was dragged out so long."
The author spent five years tracking down famous Philly criminals while researching the book, which is filled with underworld anecdotes of murder and mayhem.
Berkery, who is mentioned often in the story, was the suspected mastermind behind a famous 1959 burglary in Pottsville, Pa., that netted almost a half-million dollars for the K&A gang. One of the men involved in the crime was later killed and his brother was blown to smithereens in a 1961 car bombing just before he could testify against the alleged ringleaders, including Berkery.
Gruff-talking Hornblum says, "Berkery is old now. He has grandchildren. Maybe he doesn't want them reading about his past. Another theory is that he has his own book coming out and was afraid I'd steal his thunder. Or maybe he's afraid I'll be his Dominick Dunne, and some hotshot DA will come in after reading the book and try to prosecute him for [the unsolved murders] after all these years.
"It's incredible how a man who's been involved in criminal activity for more than half a century can [bully] an institution like [Temple] that has a law school and a scholarly press."
The book's launch party took place the other day at famous Philly watering hole Finnegans Wake. Joked one attendee, "There's never been so many cops and criminals together in one place with all of them getting along. It's a wonder no one got shot."
