Wicked Pittsburgh

Richard Gazarik

Oct 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Jamie Renell

About this audiobook

Join author Richard Gazarik as he reveals the wicked history of the Steel City. Muckraking journalist Walter Liggett dubbed Pittsburgh the "Metropolis of Corruption" in 1930 when he reported the city had more vice per square foot than New York, Detroit, Cleveland, or Boston. Decades earlier, the Magee-Flinn political machine ruled public officials, and crooked police helped racketeers protect brothels and gambling dens. Mayor (later Governor) David Lawrence was indicted several times for graft but acquitted each time. Even Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. colluded with gangsters, according to FBI reports.

About the author

Richard Gazarik spent more than four decades as a journalist in Western Pennsylvania. He has won awards for his writing and investigating reporting into public and corporate corruption in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Black Valley: The Life and Death of Fannie Sellins and Prohibition Pittsburgh.

Jamie Renell originally hails from New England and is a rabid Red Sox fan. He has been involved in films, TV, and voice-over for more than ten years, and has credits that run the gamut, including Prison Break, Homeland, Jumanji, and Pitch Perfect. He has narrated nearly 200 audiobooks.