MARBLEHEAD — Meet Phyllis Karas. Grandmother. Doctor’s wife. Mob biographer.
“How does a nice Jewish grandmother from Marblehead get involved with South Boston mobsters?” asks Karas, repeating the reporter’s obvious question.
It all started after Karas, a journalist and former professor at Boston University’s School of Journalism, in a 1998 book wrote about Aristotle Onassis’ life with wife Jackie Kennedy, lover Maria Callas, and daughter Christina.
Her then-agent introduced her to Eddie MacKenzie, a drug dealer who worked for South Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger; MacKenzie was looking for someone to write his life story. The book “Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob” was the result. It received rapturously favorable reviews.
That led to Karas’ acclaimed 2006 collaboration with Kevin Weeks, a gangster doing serious time in prison, in “Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger’s South Boston Mob,” which made The New York Times bestseller list.
Karas is back with “Women of Southie,” the fascinating stories of six women who grew up in South Boston during Bulger’s reign of terror. This is much more than a “good women who love bad men” book. All six — Anna Weeks (Kevin’s wife), Karen Weeks Rakes (Kevin’s sister), Nancy Young, Tori Donlan, Elaine McGuire Donlan, and Marie Falcione Hardy — bare their souls in brutally honest looks at their often troubled lives.
“Each faced hurdles more frightening than mobsters,” said Karas. “Death of loved ones, suicide, murder, addiction, physical and psychological abuse, (and) post-traumatic stress disorder are some of the demons they faced.”
Karas will talk about “Women of Southie” Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore. Expected to join Karas are two of the women featured in the book: Anna Weeks and Karen Weeks Rakes.
Karas and Anna Weeks became fast friends during the writing of “Brutal.”
“Kevin did not want to write the book. It was created by lawyers so he could make money, and give half to victims’ families and avoid wrongful death suits,” said Karas, adding that Weeks, Bulger’s top lieutenant, was initially uncooperative, belligerent and cranky. It was Anna who always smoothed things over.
“He would hang up on me and Anna told him to call back. He always did, and he was incredibly truthful answering my questions.” Most of the interviews took place over the phone.
But Karas also found herself sharing meals with Weeks in restaurants, at her home and in his home. One time her husband tagged along, sitting in Weeks’ living room sipping a beer and watching a Red Sox game while the gangster related stories of bloody barroom brawls. While getting photos of murder sites, Karas and Weeks “trudged through marshes, with Kevin telling me ‘This is where Whitey offed that guy.'”
Those meetings would likely have been impossible without Anna’s help, said Karas. “I’d meet Anna, we’d walk Revere Beach, and we’d talk. Anna and I became good friends. I found her stories to be more interesting than Kevin’s. Anna and Kevin were friends and that developed into a romance.
“They married, and had three babies in three years, when she was 51, 52 and 53 years old,” said Karas. “And Kevin, the mobster, takes care of the babies while Anna is at work (teacher at Head Start).”
The other women’s stories are heartbreaking, filled with stories of loved ones being murdered, committing suicide, dying from overdoses. Through it all, they survived.
“All the women were truthful and honest and trusted me to tell their story,” said Karas. “Each of these women needs their own book.” The common denominator? Southie women stand by their man.
“While the gangs that ruled the city were ruled by men, it was the women who continued to raise their families and protect their children and love their Southie and its men, the good and the bad men, the dangerous and the safe,” added Karas.
Phyllis Karas talks about her new book, “Women of Southie,” a Jewish Book Month event, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 7-9 p.m., at Epstein Hillel School, 6 Community Road, Marblehead, next to the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore. $18 per person, including reception. Two of the women featured in the book — Anna Weeks and Karen Weeks Rakes — are expected to attend. Reserve your seat at www.eventbrite.com/e/jccns-jewish-book-month-speaker-series-2018-tickets-49474003075
