A Few of My Favorite Things

Three Criminals You’ve Got To Admire

by Mark Phinney

1. The Kray Brothers count as one, because they were one, in all their twisted pissings on the British community of the 1950s. They make any American crime boss look like a petty mail thief. Pick up a book about these lads (or rent the movie, The Krays) and learn why London’s East End lived in fear for more than a decade.

2. John Dillinger had the entire nation at his feet. He charmed the country, even as he robbed their banks, and loved every minute of it.

3. Myles Connor, the only rockabilly gunman. With a guitar in one hand and a .38 in the other, he boasted his way through break-ins and sell-out club appearances around Boston during the ’50s. Forget the movies, this was the real thing.