Ed Reid
Ed Reid, (c. 1915 - 1977) was an American author and investigative journalist who exposed organized crime in New York City and Las Vegas.
Ed Reid, (c. 1915 - 1977) was an American author and investigative journalist who exposed organized crime in New York City and Las Vegas.
Early life
[edit]Reid was born in Manhattan and grew up in Brooklyn. Reid started as a reporter in 1935 and used his writing to fight corruption.
Career
[edit]An eight-part series starting in 1949 exposed the activities of bookmaker Harry Gross and corrupt members of the New York City Police Department. This exposé led to an investigation by Brooklyn District Attorney Miles McDonald, and resulted in the eventual resignation of Mayor of New York City William O'Dwyer.[1][2] His article in True Magazine I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal was the basis for the 1958 movie The Case Against Brooklyn.[3]
In the 1950s and early 1960s, Reid worked at the Las Vegas Sun. His investigative reporting exposed the hidden ownership interest of mobsters Jake and Meyer Lansky in the Thunderbird Hotel.[4] Reid, with Ovid Demaris, co-authored The Green Felt Jungle, a New York Times Best Seller for 23 weeks in 1964, that exposed greed and depravity in Las Vegas.[5] The book connected then Senator Barry Goldwater to labor racketeer Willy Bioff. Goldwater threatened a libel suit against the publisher.[6] Reid and Demaris were invited to join a panel on David Susskind's show "Open End" for a discussion of organized crime.[7] Reid was dismissed from the Las Vegas Sun by publisher Hank Greenspun after he wrote The Green Felt Jungle.[8]
In 1970 he published The Grim Reapers: The Anatomy of Organized Crime in America, hiring Ed Becker as a researcher to aid his work.[9] He came to know Becker through their mutual friend Hank Greenspun, the publisher of the Las Vegas Sun.[10]
Recognition
[edit]Reid reporting for the Brooklyn Eagle earned the public service 1951 Pulitzer Prize[11] and numerous other awards.
Family
[edit]Reid was married to Natalie (Borokhovich) Reid and had two children.
Works
[edit]- Mafia. Random House. 1952.
- The Shame of New York. Random House. 1953.
- Las Vegas: City Without Clocks. Prentice-Hall. 1961.
- (with Ovid Demaris) The Green Felt Jungle. Trident Press. 1963.
- The Grim Reapers: The Anatomy of Organized Crime in America. Bantam. 1970.
- The Mistress and the Mafia (The Virginia Hill Story). Bantam. 1972.
- Mickey Cohen: Mobster. Pinnacle Books. 1973.
References
[edit]- ^ Crime at Mid-Century by Nicholas Pileggi New York Magazine December 30, 1974 [1]
- ^ The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History By Edward Ellis 1990 [2]
- ^ Ed Reid - IMDB
- ^ Vegas and the Mob By Al W Moe p.104
- ^ "The Book That Tried to End Las Vegas". 4 September 2013.
- ^ Times, Charles Mohr; Special To The New York (1964-05-16). "GOLDWATER PLANS TO SUE OVER BOOK". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "'OPEN END' LISTS CRIME DISCUSSION". The New York Times. 1964-02-24. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
- ^ Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: LV book is true fiction Las Vegas Sun March 2, 2001
- ^ "Murdering the Mayor of Paradise". NPR. 1 November 2018.
- ^ Russo, Gus (2006). Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America's Hidden Power Brokers. Bloomsbury USA. p. 312.
- ^ "8 May 1951, Page 1 - The Brooklyn Daily Eagle at Newspapers.com".
External links
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