Ponzi's Scheme_ The True Story of a Financial Legend - Mitchell Zuckoff [169]
Kyvig, David E. Daily Life in the United States, 1920–1939: Decades of Promise and Pain. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Mackay, Charles. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Reprint, New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995.
Maurer, David W. The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man. New York: Anchor Books, 1999.
Murray, Robert K. Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919–1920. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1955.
Nash, Robert Jay. Hustlers and Con Men. New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc., 1976.
O’Connor, Thomas H. Bibles, Brahmins, and Bosses: A Short History of Boston. Boston: Boston Public Library, 1991.
———. The Boston Irish: A Political History. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1995.
———. The Hub: Past and Present. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2001.
Olian, JoAnne. Everyday Fashions 1909–1920. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1995.
Ponzi, Charles. The Rise of Mr. Ponzi. 1937. Reprint, Naples, Fla.: Inkwell Publishers, 2001.
Pringle, Henry F. The Life and Times of William Howard Taft: A Biography. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1939.
Puleo, Stephen. Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. Boston: Beacon Press, 2003.
Rayner, Richard. Drake’s Fortune: The Fabulous True Story of the World’s Greatest Confidence Artist. New York: Doubleday, 2002.
Russell, Francis. A City in Terror: 1919, the Boston Police Strike. New York: Viking Press, 1975.
———. The Knave of Boston: And Other Ambiguous Massachusetts Characters. Boston: Quinlan Press, 1987.
Sobel, Robert. The Great Bull Market: Wall Street in the 1920s. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1968.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Heartfelt thanks to the Gnecco family, especially John and Betty Gnecco, William and Florence Gnecco Hall, and Mary Gnecco Treen, for sharing reminiscences and mementos of their great-aunt Rose Gnecco Ponzi Ebner. I am especially grateful to them for providing me with the letters Ponzi sent Rose during their marriage and after. I’m grateful also to Philip Treen for sharing his theories about his great-great uncle Ponzi.
I owe equal appreciation to Mary M. Grozier for trusting me with her memories and photographs of her father, Richard. Thanks also to Elizabeth and Damian Grozier.
I received generous support and genuine fellowship at the Batten Institute at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Special thanks to Bob Bruner and Debbie Fisher. Greg Fairchild sponsored me for the fellowship, and for that and so many other things I thank him, Tierney Temple-Fairchild, and their entire family.
My agent and friend Richard Abate made this book possible, despite the fact that he suspects that a distant relative of his lost money with Ponzi. Thanks to Kate Lee for believing in this idea and saying so. My editor, Jonathan Karp, has the rare gift of knowing precisely what a writer needs to achieve his dreams. He provides it with grace, charm, and a steady hand. I am grateful to the entire Random House team, notably Jonathan Jao, Dennis Ambrose, and Bonnie Thompson.
In Ponzi’s hometown of Lugo, Italy, I received invaluable help from Rosanna Rava, who oversees registry documents in city hall. When we met, Rosanna was wearing a T-shirt that said “Boston Celtics,” which I interpreted as a grand omen. “Boston! That’s where I’m from,” I said. Confusion swept across her face; Rosanna’s English was as sparse as my Italian. When I looked more closely, I noticed that below the basketball team’s name was a sketch of a baseball player in midswing, and below that were the meaningless words “Spring Trophy.” Nevertheless, she patiently listened as I explained Ponzi’s scheme in pidgin Italian. “Like Al Capone?” she asked. “Not really,” I said. “Capone took lives. Ponzi took money.” Rosanna smiled. “Ah. Bene.” Then she unearthed his birth record and census documents.
Genealogist Carolyn Ugolini traced Ponzi’s family history and led me to Rosanna. I am grateful for her creativity, persistence, and encouragement.