The problem for all of us is that very, very little valid research has been done on the overall subject of organized crime in general, and the Mafia in particular. Gangsters aren't the kind of leave their collected papers to university libraries for people like us to study--particularly if they're following omerta. So, writers tend to rehash the same (wrong) "facts" again and again in their books and articles. And they most often choose the most sensational-sounding "facts" to help them sell their books and articles, knowing that nobody will be able to refute them.

Case in point: Meyer Lansky was reputed to be worth $300 million, the "richest gangster in history." All Lansky bios and article, except for one, reprinted that "fact." But Lansky was one of the very, very few gangsters to have a competent biographer. Robert Lacey, in his superb book, "Little Man - Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life," traced the $300 million figure to journalist Hank Messick, who told Lacey he'd heard it secondhand and used it in his own 1965 article because it was "a big figure." Lacey's own research indicated that Lansky, at his peak, was worth no more than $5-6 million. "Fantasy is an integral element of how organized crime is experienced, perceived and reported."

Under those circumstances, family tales and recollections are at least as valid, if not more so, than the stuff that writers use. But family recollections also can get distorted or embellished over time.