Names like Nucky Johnson and Hap Farley have long been bandied about as the bosses of anything and everything in and around Atlantic City.  But Fred Lavner sets the record straight in this book.  Since the national crime syndicate was formed in Atlantic City in 1931, and for the next 50 years, nobody had more clout, more influence, and more fingers in every pie than the imperceptible Herman “Stumpy” Orman.  From bootlegger to Boardwalk mogul, Orman was the true monopoly man of Atlantic City.  Nobody opened a business, got a city job, drove a jitney, sold ice cream on a beach, bought or sold property, or just about anything else without approval from Orman, not to mention the tender of a fat envelope.  Little has been written about Orman, because that’s the way he wanted it.  And he controlled the press during his reign.  To Lavner, Orman was “Uncle Herman,” and much of this book is based on direct conversations with the legend himself in his later years before moving to Florida, and exhaustive decades long research that reveals the truly wild times and tales of Stumpy Orman.

AVAILABLE  FALL  2026