George Anastasia (born February 5, 1947) is an American author and former writer for '' The Philadelphia Inquirer''. He is widely considered to be an expert on the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

. He was an organized crime investigative reporter, who was once targeted for death by then- Philadelphia crime family boss John Stanfa. He won the

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

and has also been described on a ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' television profile as "One of the most respected crime reporters in the country." Anastasia lives in Pitman, New Jersey.Shyrock, Bob
"Gloucester County Italian Heritage Commission honors journalist/author George Anastasia"
NJ.com, October 10, 2014. Accessed January 9, 2017. "The Pitman resident will be honored Wednesday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. at the commission's annual 'Night in Sicily' fund-raising event at Auletto's Caterers in Almonesson.... Born in South Philadelphia, Anastasia graduated from Gloucester Catholic High School in 1965 and earned a bachelor's in French Literature from Dartmouth College in 1969."

Early life and education

Anastasia was born in South Philadelphia and raised in Westville in

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

. He graduated from Gloucester Catholic High School in 1965 and earned a BA in French literature from Dartmouth College. He also studied at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

and the University of Florida. Anastasia has served as an adjunct professor/lecturer at Glassboro State College, now called Rowan University, Temple University, and has been a lecturer for the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

-sponsored series of weeklong seminars on journalism and organized crime in Bulgaria (2004, 2007), Croatia (2005), Serbia (2006), and Italy (2007).George Anastasia HTML at Beasley Firm website (BeasleyFirm.com)
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Literary works

The now retired former ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' reporter is the author of six books, which include ''The Last Gangster'' (ReganBooks/Harper Collins, March 2004), a ''New York Times'' bestseller that chronicles the demise of the Philadelphia mob. His other books are ''Blood and Honor'' (William Morrow & Co., 1991), which Jimmy Breslin called "the best gangster book ever written"; NYT bestseller ''The Summer Wind'' (Regan Books/HarperCollins, 1999) about the Thomas Capano-Anne Marie Fahey murder case, and ''The Goodfella Tapes'' (Avon Books, 1998), ''Mobfather'' (Kensington Books, 1993), and ''The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies'' (Perseus Books, 2011), co-authored with Glen Macnow. His work has appeared in ''

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'', '' Playboy'' and '' The Village Voice''. He also has been featured on several network television news magazine reports about organized crime and has worked as a consultant on projects for

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, the

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, the History Channel and the

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. Anastasia is the author of a novella, ''The Big Hustle'' (Philadelphia Inquirer Books, 2001), and has contributed to two anthologies of Italian-American writers, ''A Sitdown with the Sopranos'' and ''Don't Tell Momma''. ''Mob Files'', an anthology of articles he has written for ''The Inquirer'', was published in September 2008 by Camino Books.

YouTube

Anastasia does a YouTube channel called "MobTalk" along with FOX 29's Dave Schratweiser. The channel reports current updates in the organized crime world.

Bibliography

* ''Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob, the Mafia's Most Violent Family'' (1991) * ''Mobfather: The Story of a Wife And Son Caught in the Web of the Mafia'' (1993) * ''The Goodfella Tapes'' (1998) * ''The Summer Wind: Thomas Capano and the Murder of Anne Marie Fahey'' (1999) * ''The Big Hustle'' (2001) * ''The Last Gangster'' (2004) * ''Mobfiles: Mobsters, Molls and Murder'' (2008) * ''Philadelphia True Noir: Kingpins, Hustles and Homicides'' (2010) * ''The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies'' (2011) * ''Gotti's Rules: The Story of

John Alite John Edward Alite (born September 30, 1962) is an American former Gambino crime family associate and a government witness who testified against the crime family and John A. "Junior" Gotti in 2008. That year, Alite pleaded guilty to racketeering ...

, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the

'' (2015) * ''Doctor Dealer'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anastasia, George 1948 births Living people American male journalists American non-fiction writers American reporters and correspondents American writers of Italian descent Dartmouth College alumni Gloucester Catholic High School alumni Non-fiction writers about organized crime in the United States People from Pitman, New Jersey People from Westville, New Jersey Rowan University faculty Swarthmore College alumni Temple University faculty category:University of Florida alumni Writers from Philadelphia