Julius Petro: Cleveland’s Handsomest Public Enemy
Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties
Storyteller: Allan May
Doors open at 5:00pm, with the storytelling beginning promptly at 7:00pm
- Weekly series combining great food with great stories about Cleveland’s past
- FREE ADMISSION – NO COVER CHARGE
- In addition to our regular menu, we will be offering affordable specials on these nights
Story topic this week…
Julius Petro: Cleveland’s Handsomest Public Enemy
Who was Julius Petro? Dubbed Cleveland’s “handsomest public enemy,” Petro became Cleveland’s most arrested criminal with a record including murder, robberies, and ties with the mafia. Crime author Allan May joins our Cleveland Stories lineup to share stories about the handsome criminal.
Allan May Bio
Allan May is an authority on the history of organized crime in the United States and has a personal library of almost 1,000 books on the subject. May is the author of six books – including two on the Mafia in the Mahoning Valley.
May’s interest in organized crime began in the early 1960s when he saw his first episode of the “Untouchables” featuring Robert Stack as crime fighter Eliot Ness. May got his writing start with Jerry Capeci, the dean of mob writers, at Capeci’s “Gangland News” website. May was the main organized crime writer for Court TV’s website CrimeLibrary.com in the early 2000s, and was one of the main contributors to both CrimeMagazine.com, and Rick Porrello’s AmericanMafia.com.
He has taught several courses on organized crime at Cuyahoga Community College and lectures at libraries throughout Northeast Ohio. He has appeared in several documentaries, including locally “Youngstown Still Standing” and “Sugar Wars: The Rise of the Cleveland Mafia,” and has been interviewed on both radio and television. He was also an historian at Lake View Cemetery for two decades, where he wrote the “Who’s Who of Lake View.”
May is semi-retired, but works part-time as the accountant for Transition Studios, an independent film and television company in Cleveland. They produce the TruBlu streaming network with Take Down featuring Chris Hansen.
The goal of the Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is to bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past – from sports, to rock ‘n roll, to Millionaire’s Row, — the series will focus on tidbits from Cleveland’s past that will really thrill the audience. The Music Box is presenting this series in partnership with the Western Reserve Historical Society’s new Cleveland History Center. We think the Cleveland History Center is one of the most important museums in Cleveland. An unknown gem that Clevelanders should know more about, and support. It is the only museum in Cleveland dedicated to preserving and documenting the history of Cleveland. The Cleveland History Center includes two mansions, the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum, Chisholm Halle Costume Wing, Research Library, Kidzibits Hands-On Gallery, rotating exhibitions, and the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel.
See all Cleveland Stories dates here.
