You're right, Z: The Italian-American Civil Rights League, his cooperation with (and censorship of) the Godfather film, and the shooting so dominate what's written about Colombo that it's hard to find anything else on him. Selwyn Raab, in his book, "The Five Families," says that some of the old-timers were unhappy about him being made Don at age 41--Sam the Plumber was recorded on an FBI wiretap complaining that Colombo was "nothing more than a bust-out guy," and the guy at the other end saying, "He was always hanging on Gambino's shoulder."

My favorite anecdote about Colombo: He and his League bullied the New York Times into dropping Cosa Nostra and Mafia in its organized crime coverage. But, after the shooting, they went back to the old ways--and zeroed in on Colombo's crime career. Colombo's legitimate front was as a real estate agent working for the Cantalupo Realty Company in Brookyn. Anthony Cantalupo, Colombo's nominal "boss" (and a family associate) told the Times reporter: "Mr. Colombo has the sincerest group of clients--nobody ever tries to cheat him out of a commission."