As head of Denver's crime family, Clyde Smaldone was charismatic, shrewd, and quick-witted. But most of all, he knew how to keep a secret.
For forty years, from Prohibition's bootlegging era through the murderous Colorado mob wars of the 1970s, Smaldone oversaw the family business. He ran booze with Al Capone, set up gambling operations in Central City, and oversaw a lucrative loan-sharking business in North Denver. And he paid his dues, with stints in Cañon City and Leavenworth, leaving behind a wife and two sons for years at a time.
Yet despite the shadowy underworld that was his livelihood, Smaldone was a devoted husband and father and gave generously to his community, offering food, money, and college funds to struggling families.
In close collaboration with the Smaldone family, including first-time access to audiotapes of Clyde Smaldone and dozens of interviews with family members and associates, best-selling author Dick Kreck captures the complexity of this local crime syndicate, revealing what it meant to be in the mob and the love and dysfunction that is part of every American family.