One of the hoodlums said, “Just one favor, Joe. Don’t yell.” And then they were on him. Decades later, the assault was described in the book The Joker Is Wild: The Story of Joe E. Lewis, a biography of Lewis written by newsman Art Cohen: [The lead gangster] drew a .45 revolver. One of his helpers pulled out a .38 and moved behind Joe. Joe braced himself for a bullet. It did not come. A horrendous blow hit him from behind. He turned and he fell and saw the man with the .38 raising his arm to clout him again. The third assailant was unsheathing a hunting knife. Pain coiled around his brain,
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