Howie Carr ought to give Kevin Weeks a cut from the sale of his book, “The Brothers Bulger.” Weeks, a one-time associate of the notorious James “Whitey” Bulger, tells “60 Minutes” that he nearly assassinated Carr several years ago, but couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger because Carr was holding his infant daughter.
The Boston Globe today runs a low-key story on Weeks’ claim on page B2 by Ralph Ranalli, himself the author of a Bulger-related book on FBI corruption called “Dark Alliance.” But the Boston Herald, understandably, goes nuts. The front-page splash reads, “Howie Carr to would-be assassin: YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE GUTS.” Carr’s column (sub. req.) begins:
Kevin Weeks didn’t have the stones to shoot me.
That’s what I told Ed Bradley of “60 Minutes.” And for the record, I don’t believe any of the stuff he told Bradley about my alleged near-murder. You watch Sunday night and tell me who you believe.
So his serial-killing boss Whitey Bulger hated me. This is news? Whitey wanted to murder me. Stop the presses. There’s an old saying: Never send a boy on a man’s errand, and that’s what Kevin was, a boy. He played Robin to Whitey’s Batman.
Good stuff! And talk about having it both ways — Carr can simultaneously market himself as someone who was nearly killed by the Bulger mob while at the same time mocking one of Whitey’s hit men for lacking the testicular fortitude to follow through.
“The Brothers Bulger” is sitting at #10 on the New York Times Best-Seller List right now, but that will change — especially after the “60 Minutes” interviews with Weeks and Carr air this Sunday.
Amazon.com’s ratings are so flaky that they’re almost meaningless. But for what it’s worth, “The Brothers Bulger” is at #90 this morning, while Week’s own “Brutal” is at #1,192. Methinks Weeks’ “revelation” is going to do more for Howie’s sales than for his.
More: Jay Fitzgerald on why this is bad news for Bill Weld.
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carlinNH
Love him or hate him, Howie has certainly hit the local media trifecta with a long standing column in the Herald, a ratings dominating talk radio show and now, a best selling book. None of this is on the scale of mega media merchant Bill O’ Reilly but it does show what is possible with talent, hard work and a little luck. Oh, and it helps to be soo politically incorrect. Define your audience, understand your audience, market to your audience … the sound of cha – chinggg!! echoes through the mean streets of Wellesley.
Anonymous
My subsciption was NOT required to read him today, for some reason.
Specks
Chumps of a feather.
Anonymous
Carr isn’t worth a bullet.
Anonymous
Referring to a potential murder of Howie Carr as an attempted “assassination” is an affront to the memories of those like JFK and MLK. If Carr was shot, it wouldn’t be an assassination, it would be a guy who got killed. Period.
mike_b1
“Fact,” if that is what it is, is the same as fiction, I guess.What has to be looked at here is what is Howie’s blatant ripoff of the Bourne Identity story, where a CIA trained assassin named Jason Bourne (Matt Damon in the movie) fails to off a foreign leader because the poor fellow is holding his infant at the time of the anticipated killing.
Anonymous
Mike, your level of cluelessness is stunning. Amoral murderers existed long before Robert Ludlum was a gleam in his father’s eye. They will be around when we are both gone. The fact that you dislike Howie’s worldview is irrelevant to the fact that if someone wanted to clip Howie, they might fail to do so to avoid the righteous heat attached to a murder with the victim’s child present. Practicality trumps ethics with these folks. What’s next for your keen eye? A tragedy of ill-fated teen lovers with feuding parents?
mike_b1
Hiya Howie! Didn’t know you read this blog.P.S. Who wrote that for you?
Anonymous
Don’t flatter yourself…
Anonymous
Scary…Well, I for one was overjoyed when Howie begun his attacks in his columns on the Bulger Brothers…Billy was still sitting comfy at U-mass and those Whitey sightings in London…I had written several letters to the herald. They were duly published…It was lonely on the op-ed pages in those days…Such was the shadow the Bulgers cast….When Howie began his blasts…this climbing out onto the limb, bringing out the officialdom’s collusion into the mainstream…this was must welcome…So I don’t begrudge Howie his profits and spotlight…I look forward to reading the book myself…Of course others deserve credit for first sheddnig light on the corruption of Boston…Judge Mark L Wolf, columnist Peter Gelzinis, and those investigative reporters at the Globe.EmperorNortonII@myway.com
Anonymous
Dont underestimate PETER GELZINIS — he also went after the criminal bulgers — while living in Southie and walking back and forth to the herald every day. the guy has great nerve and was as hard-hitting as Howie. He punctured the whole myth that Whitey “kept the drugs outta Southie” with columns exposing how Bulger was in fact the chief heroin peddler there in the 90s, when the drug started killign a lot of poor white kids. as for mike above, it’s NOT howie who’s ripping off the scene from a movie, it’s weeks. Howie is debunking weeks’ b.s. tale of how he was a hitman with a heart of gold.
mike_b1
You are right, of course.But it’s way more fun watching some anonymous jackass get all steamed over a posting on an Internet blog.
Anonymous
I have a lot a respect for Peter. I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves. He’s the brightest light at the Herald…Always a good read…EmperorNortonII@myway.com