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The Rickporello in Crimes Prevention & Resource Directory

 

Because of my work as a crime author and host of AmericanMafia, I have been contacted numerous times by organized crime figures searching for a writer to coauthor their stories. While some of the stories have sounded promising, I’ve opted to stick with my own comfortably paced literary agenda. As a career cop and jazz drummer, I only have time for one writing project at a time. Things changed in 2000, when I received an intriguing letter from Mary Ann Kowalski, the future Mrs. Phil Christopher. I already knew of Phil, a burglar and organized crime associate, and had heard he was writing a book about his life. But I was unfamiliar with the details of the United California Bank burglary he had been involved in. After viewing a fascinating segment about the crime in a Discovery Channel documentary about infamous burglaries and robberies, I asked Mary Ann for more material. She provided me with Phil’s rough manuscript. All twelve hundred, handwritten pages. It was titled Superthief.Writing professionals will look at nothing unless it is neatly typed and presented in a concise and coherent format according to industry protocol. But I found Superthief so promising that I overlooked the rough writing and poor organization and delved in. I could not put the manuscript down. Hidden in those twelve hundred pages, I saw a compelling and honest tale of a professional criminal’s life on the streets, his betrayal by friends, his life in prison, the tragic endings for his friends, and the firsthand account of a crime that made history. I also saw significant theatrical potential and knew I had been brought a winner. I immediately reworked my projected writing schedule and signed a collaboration agreement with Mary Ann. Thus began almost five years of research, writing, and revision. Out of respect for their privacy, I decided to change the names of Phil’s former girlfriends and exwives. Additionally, I have altered several details concerning one of them to further protect her identity. The fictitious names are Sandy, Maggie, Diane, and Anna. Anna is a composite character based on two of the women. In order to avoid confusing a primary player in the United California Bank burglary with a secondary figure who had the same first name, I gave the secondary figure the fictitious name of Billy.At the time of this writing, the central figure in this book, Phil Christopher, is still in prison. Consequently, access to him has been my biggest challenge in writing this book. I corresponded with Phil primarily by letter, but on occasion we spoke by phone, and I was able to interview him in person several times in federal prisons in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Due to prison regulations, none of the interviews I conducted for this book were tape recorded. In most cases, I recreated dialogue based on Phil’s manuscript, my letters, conversations, and interviews with him, and my phone interviews with other sources. Mary Ann Christopher has been a cordial, professional, and patient collaborator to work with. I thank her for entrusting me with this project. I would like to publicly express my gratitude to my editor, Laurie Viera Rigler, whose critical eye, dedication, and unwavering encouragement have been invaluable to this book, and to my writing career. And of course, I would like to thank Superthief himself, Phil Christopher, for his cooperation and candor in documenting his story. Rick Porrello September, 2005

 

Website: http://www.superthief.com/