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Best-selling author Jonathan Eig to present the true story of Al Capone at SXU

New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Eig will present the story of Al Capone as you've never heard it before on the 82nd anniversary of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Eig's lecture, titled "The Scapegoating of Al Capone," is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tues., Feb. 14 at Saint Xavier University's Robert and Mary Rita Murphy Stump Library, located in the Warde Academic Center of SXU's Chicago campus, 3700 W. 103rd St. A screening of the 1932 classic “Scarface” will be held from 7:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. after the lecture.

 

Eig, author of "Get Capone," will tell the true story of the rise and fall of Capone based on newly discovered government documents and the notorious gangster's personal letters. Eig will explain why Capone had nothing to do with the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and tell how Eliot Ness and the Untouchables got all the credit for taking down Capone while the real heroes of the story got no publicity. He'll also argue that the plot to capture Capone came directly from the White House, where President Herbert Hoover was growing increasingly anxious that Capone was going to slip away.

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Immediately after Eig's talk, the Library will screen "Scarface," widely regarded as the best of the early gangster films. Produced by Howard Hughes, directed by Howard Hawks, and staring Paul Muni, it tells of the rise and fall of a mobster modeled on Al Capone. The film was banned by the Hays Production Code for violence, and was released only after Hughes agreed to a number of edits, including a new ending.

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Eig has authored three books- "Get Capone," "Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season," and "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig." He also writes a monthly sports column in "Chicago" magazine, and has appeared on NBC’s The Today Show, NPR, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

 

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