Bob Batchelor's Blog, page 9

THE BOURBON KING NAMED 2020 BEST HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY

THE BOURBON KING NAMED 2020 BEST HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHYCultural Historian Bob Batchelor Wins Independent Press Award® for true crime biography of George Remus, America’s 1920s “Bootleg King”

 

Cincinnati, May 4, 2020 – Love, murder, political intrigue, mountains of cash, and rivers of bourbon! The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius (Diversion Books) by cultural historian and biographer Bob Batchelor is a grand spectacle and lens into the dark heart of Prohibition. As one Jazz Age journalist put it, “Remus was to bootlegging what Rockefeller was to oil.”Batchelor breathes life into the largest bootlegging operation in America—greater than that of Al Capone—and a man considered the best criminal defense lawyer of his era. Remus bought an empire of distilleries on Kentucky’s “Bourbon Trail” (making billions of dollars in today’s money) and used his other profession, as a pharmacist, to profit from legal loopholes. He spent millions bribing officials in the Harding Administration.Remus created a roaring lifestyle that epitomized the Jazz Age over which he ruled. F. Scott Fitzgerald used Remus as one of the models for Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (celebrating its 95th anniversary this year). That is, before he came crashing down in one of the most sensational true crime murder cases in American history: a cheating wife, the dastardly G-man who seduced her and put Remus in jail, and the plunder of a Bourbon Empire. Remus later murdered his wife in cold-blood and then shocked a nation winning his freedom based on a condition he invented—temporary maniacal insanity.The Independent Press Award is an international book competition judged by experts from different functions within the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers, and professional copywriters. Selected award winners and distinguished favorites are based on overall excellence.In 2020, the Independent Press Award had entries worldwide. Participating authors and publishers reside in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, India, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, and others. Books submitted included writers located in cities such as Austin to Memphis to Santa Cruz; from Copenhagen to Mumbai; from Albuquerque to Staten Island; from Boise to Honolulu, and others.












































“We are thrilled to announce the winners and distinguished favorites in our annual 2020 Independent Press Award. This year included a myriad of excellent independently published books. It is clear that independents are prospering in every corner of the earth. We are so proud to be highlighting key titles representing global independent publishing,” said IPA Awards sponsor Gabrielle Olczak. For more information please visit independentpressaward.com; and to see this year's list of IPA Winners and Distinguished Favorites, please visit the website pages:2020 WINNERS: https://www.independentpressaward.com/2020winners2020 DISTINGUISHED FAVORITES:https://www.independentpressaward.com/2020distinguishedfavorites ABOUT BOB BATCHELORBob Batchelor is a critically acclaimed, bestselling cultural historian and biographer. He has published widely on American culture and literature. In addition to The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius (Diversion), Bob wrote Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel, the first full-scale biography of the Marvel legend. He has also written books on Bob Dylan, Mad Men, John Updike, and The Great Gatsby, among others. His next book is Rookwood: The Rediscovery and Revival of an American Icon--An Illustrated History (September 8, 2020, Rockport/Quarto)Bob graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor's degree in history, philosophy, and political science. He earned an M.A. at Kent State University under the tutelage of the eminent historian Lawrence S. Kaplan. His doctorate is in English Literature from the University of South Florida, where he studied with Phillip Sipiora. He has taught at universities in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as well as Vienna, Austria. Bob lives in Cincinnati with his wife Suzette and their teenage daughters. ###

Crisis Communications Basics -- 5 "Different" Messaging Strategies During the Coronavirus Crisis

A famous Warren Buffett quote claims that it takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. Importantly, Buffett explains, “If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

    -- Warren Buffett

“Differently” during a crisis is a challenge—exactly the right move, but countered by the fact that people hate change. Crises are centered on change and uncertainty. Most leaders are not going to want to respond differently when they don’t have a clear indication of what is happening now, let alone later.
























 What COVID-19 is proving by the minute is that communications is more important now than ever before, even though up until a week or so ago (at least in the US), most people probably assumed that we had more communications than ever before in human history.Having all the communications channels in the world doesn’t matter if no one is paying attention to the message. 5 things to do “differently” during this crisis:Be compassionate – Real people (including you) are facing unprecedented transformation.Be authentically empathetic – Given the uncertainty, be authentic in representing the situation and its consequences for your organization, business, community, and society.Be direct – No time for sugarcoating or platitudes. Tell your communities—and your employees—what you know and what they need to know as new information becomes available.Be flexible – All we know for certain is that the scope is extraordinary. Rethink what you assumed and try to keep the first point in mind, these are human beings you’re communicating with.Be attentive – In the recent past, record numbers of people have rallied to charitable causes in times of crisis. Look for (safe) ways to help. What is the opposite of hoarding toilet paper? Do that…Organizations spend an incredible amount of time, effort, and person hours creating relationships with all their stakeholders. It is paramount to create “different” communications and marketing efforts now as the world truly begins an era that may call for the complete overhaul of humankind’s foundational principles and beliefs.

Only 10 Days Until 100th Anniversary of Prohibition!

Only 10 Days Until 100th Anniversary of Prohibition!On January 17, 2020, the nation went dry...at least legally!Media Alert: 100th Anniversary of Volstead Act Implementation Centennial of Law that Launched Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties, Rampant Lawlessness, American citizens transformed into CriminalsThis is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to examine the day the nation went dry and the tremendous consequences it had on the rest of American history.What: The Volstead Act, enacted into law on October 28, 1919, defined the parameters of the Eighteenth Amendment. By passing the Volstead Act, Congress formally prohibited intoxicating beverages; regulated the sale, manufacture, or transport of liquor; but still ensured that alcohol could still be used for scientific, research, industrial, and religious practices.When: Congress voted to overrule President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, passing the Volstead Act on October 28, 1919. Legal enforcement of Prohibition began on January 17, 1920.Why: Chaos reigned in the early twentieth century. In America, the tumultuous era included millions of immigrants streaming into the nation, and then a protracted war that seemed apocalyptic. The backlash against the disarray sent some forces searching for normality. Liquor was an easy target. Supporters of dry law turned the consumption of alcohol into an indicator of widespread moral rot.Bob Batchelor, author of  The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius  (Diversion Books) is available for commentary and discussion of Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties. The Bourbon King is the epic tale of “Bootleg King” George Remus, who from his Gatsby-like mansion in Cincinnati, created the largest illegal liquor ring in American history. In today’s money, Remus built a bourbon empire of some $5 to $7 billion in just two and a half years.People all over the world know the name “Al Capone,” but without George Remus and his pipeline of Kentucky bourbon, there may never have been a Capone. Although largely forgotten today, Remus was one of the most famous men in American in the 1920s, including the shocking murder of his wife Imogene and subsequent high-stakes trial that set off a national sensation.QUOTES:George Remus: “My personal opinion had always been that the Volstead Act was an unreasonable, sumptuary law, and that it never could be enforced.”George Remus: “I knew it [the Volstead Act] was as fragile as tissue paper.”F. Scott Fitzgerald: “America was going on the grandest, gaudiest spree in history…The whole golden boom was in the air—its splendid generosities, its outrageous corruptions and the tortuous death struggle of the old America in prohibition.” From the essay “Early Success” (1937)Bob Batchelor: “Prohibition turned ordinary citizens into criminals. Media attention turned some criminals into Jazz Age icons. At the top of the heap stood those few, like George Remus, who took advantage of the new illegal booze marketplace to gain untold power and riches.”Bob Batchelor: “During Prohibition, ‘bathtub gin’ often contained substances that were undrinkable at best and deadly at worst. A band of rumrunners selling ‘Canadian’ whiskey were actually peddling toilet bowl cleaner. Tests on booze obtained in one raid revealed that the liquor contained a large volume of poison.”Bob Batchelor: “Remus may have been singularly violent and dangerous, but his utter disregard for Prohibition put him in accord with how much of American society felt about the dry laws. Within the government, the lack of resolve for enforcing Prohibition started at the top with President Warren G. Harding and his corrupt administration.”

“Bob Batchelor’s The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius might as well be the outline of a Netflix or HBO series.”

– Washington Independent Review of Books

Two interviews that provide an overview conducted with national, well-respected interviewers:https://www.iheart.com/podcast/53-his...ABOUT BOB BATCHELORC-SPAN 2’s Book TV:https://www.c-span.org/video/?464406-1/the-bourbon-kingBob Batchelor is a critically-acclaimed, bestselling cultural historian and biographer. He has published widely on American history and literature, including books on Stan Lee, Bob Dylan, The Great Gatsby, Mad Men, and John Updike. Bob earned his doctorate in English Literature from the University of South Florida. He teaches in the Media, Journalism & Film department at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) and lives in Blue Ash, Ohio.ABOUT THE BOURBON KINGCritics have called The Bourbon King "riveting," "definitive," and "rollicking," among other accolades. This is THE story of Jazz Age Criminal mastermind George Remus!

“The fantastic story of George Remus makes the rest of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ look like the ‘Boring Twenties’ in comparison. It’s all here: murder, mayhem—and high-priced hooch.”

—David Pietrusza, author of 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents

 

“Guns, ghosts, graft (and even Goethe) are all present in Bob Batchelor’s meticulous account of the life and times of the notorious George Remus. Brimming with liquor and lust, greed, and revenge, this entertaining book might make you reach for a good, stiff drink when you’re done.”

—Rosie Schaap, author of Drinking with Men

 

“The Bourbon King is a much-needed addition to the American mobster nonfiction bookshelf. For too long, George Remus has taken a backseat to his Prohibition-era gangster peers like Lucky Luciano and Al Capone. Read here about a man who intoxicated the nation with a near-endless supply of top-shelf Kentucky bourbon, and then got away with murder.”

—James Higdon, author of The Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate’s Code of Silence and the Biggest Marijuana Bust in American History

 

“Al Capone had nothing on George Remus, the true king of Prohibition. His life journey is fascinating, a Jazz Age cocktail that Bob Batchelor mixes for readers within these pages. Remus went from pharmacist to high-profile defense attorney to bourbon king to murderer.”

—Tom Stanton, author of Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society That Shocked Depression-Era Detroit

100 Years Ago: Prohibition Becomes Law with Volstead Act

The Hamilton Daily News Announces Passage of “Dry Bill”

On October 28, 1919, the Senate voted to override the veto of President Woodrow Wilson. The United States would become a dry nation after ratification of the law in January 1920. The Volstead Act, enacted into law on October 28, 1919, defined the parameters of the Eighteenth Amendment. By passing the Volstead Act, Congress formally prohibited intoxicating beverages; regulated the sale, manufacture, or transport of liquor; but still ensured that alcohol could still be used for scientific, research, industrial, and religious practices.Legal enforcement of Prohibition began on January 17, 1920.

Chicago Tribune Editors Have Fun with a Witty Headline

Why Did the US Go Dry? Chaos reigned in the early twentieth century. In America, the tumultuous era included millions of immigrants streaming into the nation, and then a protracted war that seemed apocalyptic. The backlash against the disarray sent some forces searching for normality. Liquor was an easy target. Supporters of dry law turned the consumption of alcohol into an indicator of widespread moral rot. Bob Batchelor, author of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius (Diversion Books) is available for commentary and discussion of Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties. The Bourbon King is the epic tale of “Bootleg King” George Remus, who from his Gatsby-like mansion in Cincinnati, created the largest illegal liquor ring in American history. In today’s money, Remus built a bourbon empire of some $5 to $7 billion in just two and a half years.  

October 28, 1919, Headline in the Chicago Tribune

Quotes: George Remus: “My personal opinion had always been that the Volstead Act was an unreasonable, sumptuary law, and that it never could be enforced.”George Remus: “I knew it [the Volstead Act] was as fragile as tissue paper.”F. Scott Fitzgerald: “America was going on the grandest, gaudiest spree in history…The whole golden boom was in the air—its splendid generosities, its outrageous corruptions and the tortuous death struggle of the old America in prohibition.” From the essay “Early Success” (1937)Bob Batchelor: “Prohibition turned ordinary citizens into criminals. Media attention turned some criminals into Jazz Age icons. At the top of the heap stood those few, like George Remus, who took advantage of the new illegal booze marketplace to gain untold power and riches.”Bob Batchelor: “During Prohibition, ‘bathtub gin’ often contained substances that were undrinkable at best and deadly at worst. A band of rumrunners selling ‘Canadian’ whiskey were actually peddling toilet bowl cleaner. Tests on booze obtained in one raid revealed that the liquor contained a large volume of poison.”Bob Batchelor: “Remus may have been singularly violent and dangerous, but his utter disregard for Prohibition put him in accord with how much of American society felt about the dry laws. Within the government, the lack of resolve for enforcing Prohibition started at the top with President Warren G. Harding and his corrupt administration.” The Bourbon King

“Bob Batchelor’s The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius might as well be the outline of a Netflix or HBO series.” – Washington Independent Review of Books

92 Years Ago Today -- George Remus Murders Imogene in Cincinnati's Eden Park

92 years ago in 1927, George Remus murdered his wife Imogene in Eden Park, just outside Cincinnati. The gunshot that indian summer morning capped a tumultuous period of mayhem, betrayal, and embezzlement. The subsequent trial would be followed by millions worldwide!The accompanying February 1928 insanity trial transcripts provide insight into what Remus thought about his wife and the murder.

Below is a portion of the February 1928 insanity hearing transcript. Remus answers questions about his early days with Imogene and admits that they engaged in “illicit relations.”

February 1928 insanity hearing transcript — George Remus answers questions about his early days with Imogene — “illicit relations”

Remus admits that he hoped to catch Imogene and Franklin Dodge together — so he could kill them both!

Remus admits that he hoped to catch Imogene and Franklin Dodge together — so he could kill them both!

George claimed he married Imogene to bring her up from poverty…and that she owed him as a result. The betrayal with Dodge was too much. The affair and that it became common knowledge in the criminal underworld, disgraced him, and — in his mind — forced action.

George claimed he married Imogene to bring her up from poverty…and that she owed him as a result. The betrayal with Dodge was too much…

Given his ability to manipulate juries, Remus declared he would defend himself, giving him direct access to the 12 people who held his life in their hands.

Given his ability to manipulate juries, Remus declared he would defend himself, giving him direct access to the 12 people who held his life in their hands.

 

5 Minutes to Murder: George Remus, The Bourbon King

5 Minutes to Murder: George Remus, The Bourbon King
Historian Bob Batchelor discusses The Bourbon King outside the former Cincinnati hotel where "Bootleg King" George Remus stalked his wife Imogene, before murdering her in cold blood at Eden Park. 

Interview -- Lopate at Large with Leonard Lopate!

Interview — Lopate at Large, with Leonard LopateLove, murder, political intrigue, mountains of cash and rivers of bourbon—Bob Batchelor’s book The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius is a journey into the dark heart of Prohibition and the man who made it work to his own advantage. Yes, Congress gave teeth to Prohibition in October 1919, but the law didn't stop Remus from amassing a fortune that would be worth billions of dollars today. As one Jazz Age journalist put it:

"Remus was to bootlegging what Rockefeller was to oil."

Join us for a discussion of George Remus with Bob Batchelor in this installment on Leonard Lopate at Large.Celebrating the book launch of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius, Bob joined Leonard Lopate on the Leonard Lopate at Large radio show on WBAI Radio in New York.Link here!

Bob Batchelor, author of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius (Diversion Books) on Lopate at Large with Leonard Lopate

The Bourbon King, The Inside Story: The Real Ghost of Eden Park, Video

The Bourbon King, The Inside Story: The Real Ghost of Eden Park, VideoFrom Cincinnati, Historian Bob Batchelor discusses the real ghost of Eden Park and the human toll of Prohibition, in the 1920s and today. 

The Bourbon King, The Inside Story: The Murder, Video

The Bourbon King, The Inside Story: The Murder, VideoThe Murder, Part II: From Cincinnati, Historian Bob Batchelor, author of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius (Diversion Books), discusses how George Remus chased down his wife Imogene and murdered her in Eden Park and then retraces their steps!There is a great deal of conflicting opinion about exactly where Remus and his driver, George Klug, ran Imogene and Ruth’s taxi off the road, even among eyewitnesses! I recreate the murder from the information I pieced together from those accounts. In any case, the murder took place along a 10 to 20 yard strip near Mirror Lake.

George Remus murdered Imogene in Eden Park, Cincinnati’s version of Central Park in the 1920s. The murder location is behind me in this photo, in this stretch of roadway.

The Bourbon King, The Inside Story: George Remus, Fitzgerald, and The Great Gatsby

The exterior of the Gatsby-like “Dream Palace.”

Any truth to the idea that Remus inspired the main character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby?

F. Scott Fitzgerald was right about so many things about America in the 1920s. As he proclaimed, the decade truly stood as “the grandest, gaudiest spree in history.” George and Imogene Remus embodied this idea. Remus turned himself and Imogene into the King and Queen of the criminal underworld. Yet, like the nation itself, that opulent world would come crumbling down around them. Many features of The Great Gatsby sound as if they were ripped from the life of George Remus—the parties, the magnificent pool, a string of pharmacies that he opened, real books, bootlegging—but, and it’s an important point—these same traits were encompassed in several other prominent bootleg barons from the age, most notably Arnold Rothstein, the biggest player in the New York City underworld. [For more information about Rothstein, check out the masterful biography Rothstein by David Pietrusza, one of America’s finest historians.]After 17 years of thinking about George Remus and writing a biography of The Great Gatsby, the idea that Fitzgerald used Remus as a guide was intriguing, but needed much deeper analysis. Too frequently, historians, reporters, and writers made the assertion without any real proof. After sifting through thousands of pages of primary source material, traveling to Louisville to check into evidence at the Seelbach Hotel, and reading seemingly endless scholarly analyses about Gatsby, I surmise that Remus was most likely just one of a number of bootleg kings that Fitzgerald used to create the composite that later became Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s movements in and around New York City and attending the grand parties on Long Island certainly provide evidence that Remus—half a country away in Cincinnati—would have been a lesser influence than the gangsters in the Big Apple that he could more readily read about and even know personally. The Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, however, makes its way into the novel. Gossip and rumors about the “King of the Bootleggers” certainly may have made their way to Fitzgerald, but there is no direct evidence that he traveled to Louisville after Prohibition became law. His time in the city had been as an officer trainee during the waning days of World War I. His escapades, including being kicked out of the hotel’s famous Rathskeller bar for being too inebriated, happened years earlier. Remus was in the public eye and the nation followed his exploits in the papers. Fitzgerald was a voracious reader and interpreter of the news. Over the years, though, the fable that George Remus was THE model for Jay Gatsby has gained momentum. Many writers and scholars make the claim without clear evidence, because that evidence does not exist, or at least hasn’t been uncovered yet. Until we have definitive proof, I think the best we can say is that Remus was A model, but not the sole model, for The Great Gatsby.

For a detailed analysis of the Fitzgerald/Gatsby/Remus connection, as well as information about other sources for Jay Gatsby, check out The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius (Diversion Books).

George, Imogene, and Ruth pose with their guests for a formal portrait inside the famous “Imogene Baths” prior to it opening on December 31, 1921. Reports estimate that Remus paid up to $175,000 for the Grecian swimming pool, lined with tile from Cincinnati’s famous Rookwood Pottery.