Author Talks About Gangster Who Retired to Small Iowa Town

NORTH ENGLISH – On April 21, the North English History Center hosted a presentation by Betty Brandt Passick, author of the historical fiction novel “Gangster in Our Midst.” Brandt Passick explained that she grew up in Fairbank Iowa, where a local man, Louie La Cava, was rumored to be a former Chicago outfit gangster. Brandt Passick described La Cava as always wearing a fedora and a diamond-studded belt buckle and of inviting children to go to the movies with him, because he knew the police would not open fire if there were children around. Brandt Passick talked about her research and interviews with elderly townsfolk to find out if La Cava really was a gangster, culminating in her discovering newspaper articles about a man named Louie La Cava testifying against famed mobster Al Capone.

The author discussed the life of La Cava, who slowly worked his way up to being a member of Capone’s inner circle, was almost killed for failing to rig an election, and was eventually became a hitman and bookkeeper for the mob boss. Brandt Passick noted that the family of the La Cava who lived in Fairbank was angered by her book and told her that the gangster La Cava must have been a different man with the same name. Brandt Passick described her novel as a community project, based on interviews and newspaper articles, with the only major change being the changing of peoples’ names. Brandt Passick has also written a second historical novel inspired by her hometown, “The Black Bag of Dr. Wiltse,” and is currently working on the third book in the trilogy.