Bob Batchelor is a critically-acclaimed cultural historian and biographer whose works explore contemporary American culture. His recent book, The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius, won the 2020 Independent Press Award for Historical Biography. Bob’s next book is Rookwood: The Rediscovery and Revival of an American Icon--An Illustrated History. He earned his doctorate in English Literature from the University of South Florida and has taught at universities in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as well as Vienna, Austria. Bob lives in Cincinnati with his wife Suzette and their teenage daughters.
* How has the current pandemic changed your daily routine? Many writers are natural social distancers, so the COVID-19 pandemic might be slightly more normal for me than many others. At the same time, though, the constant anxiety never lets up…the CNN death count updates, obfuscation at the highest levels of government, and (most sadly) the seeming indifference of people to act in ways that are compassionate and empathetic. I find the idea of “coronavirus fatigue” reprehensible because it means people’s selfish desires are more important to them than doing what is right for one’s fellow human beings. Despite all this, however, I’m attempting to stay productive and safe while staying at home. Burying myself in editing my next book or researching new ideas feels good and keeps me focused on some better future. * How did you arrive at the subject of your latest book: George Remus? Although it seems hard to believe, a famous historian (Stanley Cutler) asked me to write a short essay on Bootlegging for a new edition of The Dictionary of American History. This was 18 years ago! I ran across George Remus in the research for that little piece and he stuck in my mind. Then, much later, I again encountered Remus when I wrote a book on The Great Gatsby, a kind of biography of Fitzgerald’s amazing novel. When I started thinking about a follow-up to my bestselling biography of Stan Lee, it seemed natural (with the centennial of the Roaring Twenties at hand) to find a topic at the center of that decade. Eureka! Back to Remus, who turned out to be a great choice, especially since I had recently moved to the Cincinnati area. Being in southern Ohio, I could walk where Remus walked and feel history come to life by being here and in Northern Kentucky, where so much of the story takes place. Finally, I got my chance to tackle Remus and he turned out to be a fantastic subject. * Why does Remus remain overshadowed by his notorious contemporary Al Capone? This is one of the most perplexing questions about Remus’s story and one I’ve spent countless hours contemplating. I think it boils down in large part to timing. Remus was from an earlier generation and came to power as Prohibition took root. As a result, he was more of a gentleman bootlegger than Capone (though Remus certainly was violent, had people murdered, and committed murder himself). By the time Capone came to power, bootlegging had changed. Whereas Remus would confront a slight first with his fists, Capone would start shooting or have his men fire away. Capone’s empire was more violent and that somehow captured the public’s attention. In addition, Capone was headquartered in Chicago (a larger media hub than Cincinnati) and had constant media coverage, including films made that were loosely based on him, so he was in the national spotlight later than Remus. After Remus won release in mid-1928, he did not have the funds to rebuild his empire and slipped from the spotlight versus where he had been from 1920-1928. If Remus had written a memoir or worked with a producer to film his life story—both ideas that he claimed where in the works but never completed—then he might have gone down in history as notoriously as Capone. * How did Remus's early career (in pharmacy and later becoming a trial lawyer) prepare him for the life of a bootlegger? George Remus couldn’t have had a better career trajectory or preparation for becoming America’s “bootleg king.” Having passed the state licensure pharmacy exam at 19 and running his several drugstores, he knew the business intimately, including the regulations that existed in what determined “medicine” and “medicinal use.” When I talk to audiences about Remus, they are always really intrigued at how he transitioned from pharmacist to lawyer, but it’s pretty simple: Remus viewed himself as an important person and he could fulfill that destiny by becoming an attorney. By the time he graduated from law school, he worked with Clarence Darrow, one of the most important human rights crusaders in American history. Though it’s hard to imagine, Remus used that connection to become a top-flight attorney, first a labor lawyer, then switching to a criminal defense lawyer, and ultimately becoming one of the best in the nation. So, by the time Illinois passed prohibition laws in 1919, Remus had the perfect background to take advantage of the money that could be made illegally. When he defended small-time bootleggers and realized how much cash they carried (thousands in tightly-wound rolls, just like the movies), he had an epiphany and went to the dark side. * You've also written about The Great Gatsby. Do you see any evidence that Remus inspired Fitzgerald's fictional bootlegger, as some have asserted? Lazy journalists and writers over the years started inflating Remus’s use as Fitzgerald’s role model for Jay Gatsby. Without real evidence, they moved from saying Remus was a model to the model for the fictional bootlegger. Some reporters and writers even claimed that Fitzgerald had partied with Al Capone and Remus at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville. Well, the dates don’t work out and there is no evidence (at this point) that it ever occurred, though we do know that Remus and Capone frequented the Seelbach, as did Fitzgerald, but in the years before Prohibition, long before Remus or Capone were household names. Is George Remus one of the role models…certainly. There are too many similarities and just enough evidence to prove that is the case. However, Arnold “Big Brain” Rothstein is a much more convincing case, as are several gentleman bootleggers who Fitzgerald met in his drunken escapades on Long Island. I think the most compelling piece is that Jay Gatsby and Remus both operated false-front pharmacies. This was Remus’s big idea and it kind of solidifies the connection. I will add, though, that while I researched The Bourbon King more than a half a dozen people told me that they had seen a photograph of Capone, Remus, Fitzgerald, and the mayor of Louisville taken in the Seelbach. If that photo ever turns up, then we’ll have to reexamine the evidence, but until then, one of America’s great literary mysteries is still up in the air. * Any new projects in the works? My next book will be published in September, titled Rookwood: The Rediscovery and Revival of an American Icon--An Illustrated History. This is another Cincinnati-based tale and one that shocks me people in the region and across the country don’t know. Rookwood is significant for two important points. First, Rookwood more or less launched art pottery in the United States from its Queen City headquarters in 1880. At that time, America copied European styles and few thought the young nation would ever compete with the Old World and Asian potteries. Rookwood, however, won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition in 1889, becoming one of the best in the world in less than a decade. Any museum that features American art pottery has Rookwood. Its artists were famous and the company itself quickly became the crown jewel in the Queen City. In the early twentieth century, Rookwood was as famous as say Nike is today. More important, perhaps, is that Rookwood was founded by Maria Longworth Nichols Storer, making her the first woman in the United States to found and run a manufacturing company. I’m not sure how or why this has slipped into history’s dustbin, but I think it is significant that a female entrepreneur and artist was able to accomplish this feat in 1880 at a time when such a notion was unheard of. Maria believed that Rookwood could help establish “home art” for American families, accentuating the idea that a pleasant home environment would help people physically and spiritually. Rookwood really ushered in home décor. For Cincinnati and the nation, it’s kind of a travesty that Storer isn’t recognized for her pioneering entrepreneurism. I am working on a new book idea as well, but it’s under wraps right now. Authors are notoriously nervous about talking about new books before our literary agents and editors have had a crack at it, but I will say I’ve discussed it with several trusted advisors and they love the topic, so hopefully it will eventually make it to the bookshelves! Finally, I’d just like to finish this great interview up by saying “stay safe and healthy.” Thanks for the chance to talk about The Bourbon King and my work, which is deeply appreciated.
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AuthorMatthew Smith, PhD (History). Public Programs at Miami University Regionals. Historian of Appalachia, the Ohio Valley, & the early American republic. Archives
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