The Boys From Biloxi Quotes
"The workers were immigrants from Eastern Europe, most from Croatia where their ancestors had fished for centuries in the Adriatic Sea."
"Their parents and grandparents were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, as well as Croatians, and they had been quick to assimilate into the ways of their new country."
"The immigrants lived in either barracks or shotgun houses on Point Cadet, a peninsula on the eastern edge of Biloxi, around the corner from the beaches of the Gulf."
"In Biloxi cemeteries, there were tombstones with names like Jurkovich, Horvat, Conovich, Kasich, Rodak, Babbich, and Peranich."
"The biggest obstacle facing any attempts at reform was the longtime corruption of the police and elected officials."
"If they chose to spend their money in Biloxi, they knew they would not be bothered by the police."
"Certain shrimp boats were rumored to unload weighted corpses twenty miles from shore, into the deep, warm waters of the Mississippi Sound."
"Biloxi prospered because of seafood, shipbuilding, tourism, construction, and a formidable work ethic fueled by immigrants and their dreams of a better life."
"Every spare penny was saved to purchase baseball cards, and the trading was serious business."
"When he was ten, he was chosen for the twelve-year-old league, a rarity."
"The church was important, at least to their parents and grandparents, but for the boys the real institution was Cardinal baseball."
"Everyone knew the Cardinal players, their positions, stats, hometowns, and their strengths and weaknesses."
"As a father, Lance tempered his ambitions to plunge deeper into vice."
"The family business changed dramatically in 1950 when he died suddenly of pneumonia at the age of fifty-four."
"In spite of the family drama, and the accepted belief that Lance had managed to outmaneuver his siblings, he and Carmen continued to be well regarded on the Point."
"Nevin Noll became the most loyal employee Lance Malco would ever hire."
"The money was good and they had more than most on the Point. Complaining would have no effect."
"He returned to Biloxi, with no injuries but with memories so horrible he vowed to forget them."
"The children learned English, taught it to their parents, and rarely spoke the mother tongues at home."
"Their dreams were dashed eight months after their wedding when Aaron fell from a scaffold."
"I’m sick of the corruption, Rex. Fats Bowman has been in bed with the mobsters since he took office twelve years ago."
"The two met in the center of the ring and bobbed a few times, sizing each other up."
"Corruption never stays in a box. It spreads because greedy men see easy money."
"The State had no proof, no evidence. The State had hauled his client, Nevin Noll, a young man with no criminal record whatsoever, into the courtroom on bogus charges."
"The gamecocks were naturally aggressive toward all males of the same species."
"He was a proud son of Biloxi and Point Cadet, had risen from modest means, raised by hardworking immigrants who loved their new country."
"We have to be the guardians of our own integrity."
"The truth was that Doris (real name) was a nineteen-year-old high school dropout who’d been tending to the needs of well-heeled customers in the upstairs rooms for at least two years."
"Jesse was careful to stay away from naming any of his potential targets."
"The men were boisterous, talking loud, even yelling at each other across the pit in good-natured fun."
"He relied on hard work, shoe leather, and a dogged determination to meet the voters."
"The attack began on July 10, three weeks before the election."
"Jesse was so upset he locked himself in his office, stretched out on the floor, and tried to breathe deeply."
"The truth was not important. Jesse, a lawyer who represented many guilty criminals, was soft on crime."
"He slept little, and at midnight he and Agnes were usually in bed replaying the day and planning tomorrow."
"The reform movement Jesse dreamed of did not galvanize."
"Jesse and his team had learned the hard lesson that direct mail was extremely effective."
"For two days Jesse stewed over the loss as he contemplated contesting the election."
"He had been beaten in a dirty fight and had learned some hard lessons."
"Phone calls to adjusters were often not returned and never promptly."
"An amazing amount of paperwork was lost in the mail."
"Most of the rubble had been cleared and every day the sounds of recovery grew stronger."
"He loved poker and thought about going to Vegas and pursuing it full-time, but could never win consistently."
"He met some drug smugglers and dabbled in the trade, but was turned off by the brutality of the business."
"He drove a nice car and seemed unconcerned about money."
"The truth was that about half of the gross receipts never hit the books."
"He was at the pool table one evening when Jimmie Crane entered his life."
"Jimmie was a big talker, charismatic, and funny with plenty of tall tales of prison life."
"Jimmie was convinced a fortune could be made in the weapons trade."
"In every small town there is a jewelry store, sitting right there on Main Street next door to the coffee shop."
"It had been as easy as taking candy from a baby."
"The boys allowed her to wear some of the loot from Mason’s and she had a delightful time modeling necklaces and bracelets."
"Jesse Rudy was a household name and viewed by many as a gutsy and talented trial lawyer who fought the insurance companies, and won."
"Publicly, he never mentioned Fats Bowman and the nightclub crowd."
"The idea of using the state’s nuisance law originated with Keith."
"The courtroom was about half full and he did not see another club owner."
"The four women on the jury saw through the charade and lost interest."
"He tried to pin down their names, current addresses, ages, and dates of employment, but even that was difficult."
"Joe Nunzio got $2000 cash to vote not guilty."
"As always, there were two alternate jurors. If Nunzio was excused, the trial would go on."
"Mistrials were for defendants, not prosecutors."
"The jury would get the case early the next morning and they would soon know what, if anything, Nunzio was up to."
"The majority of the jurors would vote guilty, but the law required a unanimous verdict."
"Nine to three. Been that way since yesterday afternoon and everyone’s dug in."
"Judge Oliphant accepted the obvious and said, 'Thank you. I have no choice but to declare a mistrial.'"
"Go talk to Mr. Rudy and then decide about the lawyer."
"‘What if I don’t want to talk to him?’ ‘No problem. It’s up to you.’"
"You got thirty days, Joe. If there’s no deal in thirty days, then you’ll hear a knock on the door at three in the morning."
"Though the state still lagged in education, health care, and especially civil rights, he was the first governor to push a progressive agenda."
"Jesse quipped that he was hoping Malco would be sent to the fields to pick cotton like the common criminals."
"The chef prepared them for lunch and the governor, a big man with an impressive appetite, enjoyed the feast."
"I’m fifty now, Jesse, and I’m not ready for a nursing home."
"I can’t imagine Mississippi ever electing a Republican governor."
"He attacked a raw oyster. After it slid down, he said, 'You know, Jesse, the Democratic Party in this state is a mess.'"
"Bootlegging beer was an easy and harmless crime, one without the threat of violence."
"He had arranged numerous contract killings. He was the man to go see when murder was the only option."
"Wolf believed he lived somewhere near Opelika, Alabama."
"The more he talked, the more he nodded off. Heavily sedated and in enormous pain, he drifted in and out and was occasionally confused."
"Supply chain problems plague every rogue bomber, and phone calls can leave tracks."
"Conspiracy to commit murder by contract killing is a capital offense in Tennessee."
"He paid cash for one night and refused to provide any type of ID."
"The murder was solved by the brilliant work of our state police, and especially by the investigative prowess of the FBI."
"We found five pounds of plastic explosives, military grade and highly illegal, in the bed of your truck."
"In three weeks, February eleventh, Mr. Getty and his wife plan to get away for the weekend."
"In Mississippi, they keep you on death row in solitary for ten years before they gas you."
"The main ballroom was packed with family and friends, most of the local bar, the courthouse gang, and an impressive group of business leaders from the Coast."
"Cocaine was raging through the country, and south Mississippi was riddled with distribution points that changed weekly."
"Without getting too carried away, Keith took a generous share of the credit for cleaning up the Coast, but warned that the old vices of gambling and prostitution were nothing compared to the dangers of cocaine and other drugs."
"For eighteen straight days he crisscrossed the state, meeting with volunteers recruited by his lawyer pals, glad-handing his way through courthouses."
"His thirty-fifth birthday fell on a Saturday in April. Rex Dubisson hosted a beach party and invited two hundred friends and campaign workers."
"He was a making a fortune and was active in the lawyers’ organizations."
"Over a quiet drink, Rex told Keith that the trial lawyers needed a friend and they saw him as a rising star."
"The first candidate to qualify for the AG’s race and the press was interested."
"The Row was much quieter following Gray’s execution."
"He had arrived at Parchman confident that his father’s money and contacts could somehow spare his life, perhaps even buy freedom, but a new reality was settling in."