|
Welcome to Twenty Questions, I am your host, Jim, this is the first foray into the format and I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed questioning today’s guest, Don TomJoad, I’m hopeful I can make this a weekly instalment, it is my intention to take this outside of the family with a myriad of guests in the coming weeks so please, read on.
Before we begin, a foreword from someone close to today’s subject;
The illustrious TomJoad, family line better known as FlyingPig has been out and about on these shores for years. A man of few words sometimes, but fiercely loyal to his family (and fan club, branches in all of our six cities, see SimonTheSwanHunter for membership details). Sometimes, but rarely, found in a suit of bold, you can always find his bold musings in any town square. The head of many committees, sharp as a tack, and completely averse to any communication method outside of the US Post, TomJoad currently leads Jerome's Marauders out of The Loop, Chicago.
~ HuffinDuster
1. You’re known as somewhat of a foodie within the HQ walls, if the FBN are closing in, what’s your last meal?
TJ: Sorry to disappoint, but it isn't that exciting. A bowl of cereal. Although yesterday for breakfast I had an Irish-style omelette made with corned beef, potatoes, and cheddar cheese. Probably the fanciest thing I make is grilled Chilean sea bass with a creme veloute sauce or a gorgonzola stuffed filet mignon. I'm not really a culinary wizard, but I spent enough time working in the restaurant industry to pick up a few things.
2. What’s a piece of advice you’ve been given that you’ve lived by?
TJ: If what someone says does not reflect what they do, believe what they do, not what they say. It's an easy way to identify bullshitters.
3. Following on, what’s a piece of advice you’d give to a young upstart in this thing of ours?
TJ: Make connections with the right people. If you hang around a bunch of assholes, people will assume you're an asshole.
4. Looking through your ancestral journals, who’s your favourite person, for an extra bonus point, choose someone other than Anita.
TJ: I'll take the extra bonus point, but it's tough to name just one person, so I'm not going to. Tiggy and Manny Luciano were my partners in crime during my earliest generations (along with tita), and remained so for many generations thereafter. I choose them because they were my core compadres during the early years when my family line made a name for themselves. Tiggy had already established herself as a CL and the RHM of Ganelon. Manny and FP were a couple of inexperienced mobsters trying to make names for themselves, and they did. They became a team to be feared very quickly.
5. You’ve tweaked and reworked your uppers, how’d you settle?
TJ: I have several people who I would trust with leaving the family in their hands while I'm away. Hush has been my left hand almost from day one. Father OMalley started off as my RH, and remained so until his anticipated auth. After that it was HuffinDuster, with Illuminatiated filling in once or twice. There are probably a dozen mobsters who could fill the RH spot, and I would trust them to do so, but in the interest of consistency and not devaluing the position with a revolving door, HuffinDuster is my RH and Hush is my LH.
6. Another follow up, share a little insight into each we may not be aware of.
TJ: HuffinDuster is a great diplomat. He is valuable in that he can reach out to a number of affiliates from all over the country and discuss business with them. He's also a determined individual who will do whatever is needed to accomplish his goals. Hush also has those skills, and puts in an insane amount of work. I could go into more detail, but most details should stay within our HQ walls.
7. When Father_OMalley had the brakes put on him, as it was your first executive decision, did you panic?
TJ: There was so much going on at the time, it was just one more thing to deal with. There was no panic, just "getting to work". HuffinDuster and I knew what we had to do, and we did it.
8. How’d you sell it to Bob that he wasn’t the ‘B’ side?
TJ: There was no salesmanship needed. Bob was aware of the situation and was willing to step up and do what was needed. Having that kind of perspective on the big picture shows that he is and was the type of leader we need. From here, it's up to him how he is viewed across the nation.
9. Who, apart from yours truly, has pleasantly surprised you in the crew?
TJ: We have a whole crew of talented and hard working people, yourself included. I can't say I have been actually surprised, because I know what everyone was capable of. The only surprise was in how immediate and willing everyone was to suddenly get active and want to pitch in, not just to the family, but to the community as a whole.
10. Your reputation has proceeded you for a long time, how do you stay out of its shadow?
TJ: I think that reputation has waned a bit in recent years as time goes by and it has been longer since any member of my bloodline did something that made people sit up and take notice. Between that and staying relatively quiet, I haven't had quite the same expectations and drama following me around as ancestors. I'm known to keep all of my affiliations somewhat loose, so I never get pulled into being associated with any known groups. That also helps to not be stereotyped or pigeon-holed. Long, long ago, in the ancient days of Cosa Nostra, early generations of my family line had a microscope on them. Those guys were used to being the center of attention. At some point, one generation got their fill of it, and decided to step aside and watch others do their thing. That was several years ago. By now, most of our criminal associates do not expect me to cause problems or raise hell, other than the occasional sharp-tongued rant. I'm more of an observer than a participant.
11. Given you had a strong hand in supporting previous regimes, do you harbour any guilt?
TJ: I had a strong hand in supporting previous regimes? That's news to me. Perhaps a generation or two was shuffled in as a LHM for the sake of having an active individual in the position, but none were involved in any plans or kept in the loop about any activities. There's no guilt to harbor. I'm proud that they were outspoken against certain practices, despite being of the few who spoke out and actually had something to lose. The burgerhousing of Otis was one example of standing up against the previous regime and paying a hefty price. Otis was made a saint, you know.
12. When you’ve got people like Illuminatiated, the aforementioned Omalley, just hanging around, how do you keep them motivated?
TJ: Illuminatiated is self-motivated. There is no effort needed there. Father_OMalley is a little tougher to keep motivated. Certain threats have been made against him which I will not divulge.
13. Some would view you as an old school gun slinger, do you ever underestimated intellectually?
TJ: I don't think I've ever been underestimated for very long. Usually when someone challenges me they realize they made a mistake fairly quickly. I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant, but I believe it's the truth.
14. Apart from Bob, which CL have you naturally gravitated towards?
TJ: I try to keep a balance of having diplomatic relations with other Bosses, but my focus is and always will be on my family. I enjoy a rivalry with Detroit due to our proximity to each other and shared perspective on the art of mugging, but Simon is a dick and we are not friends.
15. Does the strong relationship of NY and PH give you food for thought?
TJ: Pizza sounds good right now. I don't occupy my mind with things outside of Chicago very much. I understand many might think that's foolish, and maybe it is, but that's just where I am at these days, for better or worse. I have a good RHM who keeps his finger on the pulse of happenings elsewhere, and I trust him to counsel me if there is anything that I need to be aware of.
16. What’s the toughest trigger your lineage has ever had to pull?
TJ: Looking through my family journals, there are few to none who did not meet up with my lineage on the other side of a battle. My ancestors have had to kill those closest to them many times. I won't names names. They know who they are. It's never fun and one of the reasons I do not greet leadership opportunities with enthusiasm.
17. Much has been made of your relationship with Simon, what’s the truth?
TJ: The truth? Fine. Simon is a power bottom and I'm just experimenting.
18. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you laugh, have you?
TJ: Several times. Usually during the most epic failures in mafia lore. The first one that comes to mind is a certain Boss back in the old days who, as part of a war strategy, demoted their entire crew to thug so they couldn't be shot. What could go wrong? (sorry to those involved, but come on, that was fucking hilarious).
19. What gets you out of bed in the morning?
TJ: Nothing other than the fact that I have to work to pay my bills. If it were not for that, trust me, I would sleep in.
20. You can either leave us with your favourite quote or you can tell us one thing we don’t know about you, which is it?
TJ: I don't really have a favorite quote, but one that I think of often is "The definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result". I don't think that's actually the definition, but it amazes me how often I see people doing that exact same thing. The persistence is mind boggling.
Fin
There we have it folks, straight from the swine’s mouth, I want to personally thank TomJoad for his candid approach, he’s done the heavy lifting here on short notice. A big thank you also to HuffinDuster for the foreword.
If you have feedback, insights or something you’d like to share please go ahead, alternatively, if there’s someone you’d like to be the subject of this series and any questions you’d like me to ask, don’t hesitate to write in.
Yours,
Jim
|
