Who are Uncle Tip-Top and Tony Four? They were my enterprising uncles, long since passed. Uncle Tip-Top (real name Tom) was a fleet supervisor for Ward Baking, the company which manufactured a popular brand of highly-processed, empty-calorie white bread called Tip-Top. Its ironic slogan? “Tip-Top Bread Builds Bodies Eight Ways.” Tip-Top’s fleet of 200 ... Learn More

Alfonso "Fonso" Gravenese obsession with the accumulation of wealth knew few bounds. By the 1950's he had scammed more than half a billion dollars from government do-good programs. With that war chest, he would create the "Mona Lisa" of white-collar scams. Fonso traveled offering then developing third world countries like Egypt, Argentina,... Learn More

Our wedding was a grand affair in Westchester County with over 200 family and friends. The best part? Our guests gave us over $4,000 in cash (a lot of money in 1964). It was off to the island of Jamaica for our honeymoon the next day. So, the 22-year old groom... Learn More

Alfonso "Fonso" Gravenese, AKA The Salad Oil King, loved to gamble….on sure things. Growing up, Yo-Yo contests were held daily in Little Italy. The entry fee was 5 cents per play. Fonso knew his opponents were bigger and older, but he had a streak of larceny in his ice water veins. Minutes... Learn More

When I was in high school, I sold sell hotdogs and soda at the old Yankee Stadium, which, fortunately for me, was only about eight blocks from my school. It was great making some spending money and wandering around the hallowed halls of the Stadium. I especially looked forward to Saturday day games.... Learn More

During World War II every American contributed to the war effort by receiving and using ration stamps to ensure everyone shared the pain. But, there were those like Alfonso "Fonso" Gravenese and his Mafia cronies who made a handsome profit in the black marketing of goods and services through the use of... Learn More

When Alfonso "Fonso" Gravenese, AKA The Salad Oil King, was a 9-year old kid, his father asked him to help sell fresh fish from his ice-filled cart after school to their neighbors on Spring Street in Little Italy. "Fonso" quickly learned if he stuffed ice into the fish's mouth with some of the... Learn More

I died more than 30 years ago at the age of 75 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since then, much has been written about me, my work, family, and circumstances. Some have been accurate, much not. That is why I decided to write a candid book about what happened. Once Mao was gone,... Learn More

With the government out of control and people being murdered and imprisoned at will, my homeland was no longer the society for which my father fought and died. We decided to take advantage of the few friends I knew I could trust to find a way to escape to Hong Kong, where we... Learn More

My older brother Siwu was a kind, gentle, intelligent man who loved life. As the Cultural Revolution stormed the country, he and his French-born wife, Zhuge, decided to move to Shanghai's relative calm and teach French and English at the foreign language college. They quickly learned to be careful with whom... Learn More