In October, I got to chat with podcaster Blaine DeSantis for his Books & Looks podcast. Blaine has been a big champion of Street Fight and he was gracious enough to let me share lots of its stories, as well as my process of researching and writing. The episode is available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
CPLF Literary Foundation Awards presentation
The Chicago Public Library Foundation Literary Awards Carl Sandburg dinner in October was an absolutely incredible evening, and I was so honored to be invited as a guest author. Great news! You can watch the event online.
Street Fight signing: Printers Row Lit Fest
I’ll be selling and signing books at the Printers Row Lit Fest this year! On Saturday, Sept. 7 from 3-6 p.m., come down to the Chicago Writer’s Association booth on Dearborn just north of Harrison to chat all things Street Fight and buy a book or two. Looking forward to it!
Street Fight reading/signing: June 20th in Winnetka
My next reading and book signing for Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 20th, at The Book Stall in Winnetka. Hope you can join me! Click here to register for the event.
Chicago Review of Books interviews author Anne Morrissy
Author photo and cover of Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s
The Chicago Review of Books recently reviewed Street Fight: The Chicago Wars of the 1920s and included an interview with author Anne Morrissy. Editor Michael Welch describes the book as “a remarkable work of narrative history” and says that it “reads like a captivating crime drama.” To read the full interview, click here.
April 13: Street Fight reading/signing at the Lake Geneva Public Library
Join us! Instagram influencer Mary Alice Myers (@maryalice.home) will host author Anne Morrissy at a public book launch event for Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s at the Lake Geneva Public Library from 2-3:30pm on Saturday, April 13th. For more information click here.
Chicago Review of Books names Street Fight one of "12 Must-Read Books of March"
The Chicago Review of Books named Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s one of the 12 Must-Read Books of March. From the entry: “Written like a heartracing thriller or true crime podcast, Street Fight is a fascinating look at this understudied conflict in the city’s history that combined a perfect storm of labor suppression, organized crime, government corruption, and turf warfare. Anne Morrissy’s latest is a must-read for history buffs of all kinds.”
March 21: Street Fight reading/signing at Madison Street Books
Chicago’s Madison Street Books (1127 W. Madison) will host author Anne Morrissy for a reading/signing of Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s. The event takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 21st. RSVP here!
Booklist reviews Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s
Booklist Magazine, the official publication of the American Library Association, recently reviewed Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s! Reviewer Mark Knoblauch says, “Morrissy’s vivid and deeply researched account of this component of post-WWI social and commercial lore will intrigue students of business history as well as all who revel in ever-colorful and often brutal Chicago stories.”
Street Fight available for pre-order
Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s now available for pre-order!
Excited to share the cover of my next book, which will be released in March 2024 by Lyons Press! Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s tells the story of Chicago's Yellow Cab Company, the first true modern cab company, and the many rivals that sprang up to challenge its dominance on the streets of Chicago in the early days of the automobile. Here’s the book jacket copy:
Bricks and bottles of acid through the windshield. Bullets shot from the running boards of racing cabs, passengers screaming in the backseat. Bombs exploding in garages, beneath parked cars, on the front porches of jurors’ homes. Accusations of favoritism and collusion with city leaders and law enforcement; bribery and extortion and grand jury investigations. Mysterious accidents and brutal attacks and devastating fires, leaving a trail of widows in their wake. These were Chicago’s Taxi Wars, a violent and deadly battle for supremacy of the city’s new and lucrative taxi industry during the Jazz Age.
In 1915, at the dawn of the automobile era, visionary car salesman John D. Hertz (better remembered today for his successful foray into rental cars) and his partner, Walden W. Shaw, founded Chicago’s Yellow Cab Company. This wildly successful venture would go on to inform and inspire the modern taxi industry as we know it today, in Chicago and throughout the United States. But as the Roaring Twenties glamorized lawlessness on the city’s streets, Yellow Cab’s meteoric rise invited increasingly aggressive competitors. Cab drivers battled each other in the streets over fares, allegiances and turf claims, their skirmishes escalating from sophomoric pranks to cold-blooded murder, mass shootings and acts of domestic terrorism. In the 1920s, one rival in particular ascended to pose a threat to Yellow Cab’s dominance: the Checker Taxi Company. Behind the scenes, pulling the strings at Checker, was Morris Markin, who was desperate to expand his influence even as Chicago’s gangsters attempted to wrest his control away.
Working from extensive research and interviews with descendants and experts, author Anne Morrissy vividly recreates Chicago’s Taxi Wars, bringing to print for the first time this deeply compelling but nearly forgotten story. Buffeted by a supporting cast of colorful combatants and larger-than-life Jazz Age characters — including Johnny Torrio, Al Capone, Joe Kennedy, Gene Tunney, Jack Dempsey, and Chicago mayor William Hale “Big Bill” Thompson — Street Fight: The Chicago Taxi Wars of the 1920s restores to history these deadly wars that played out on the city’s streets a century ago, endangering the lives of passengers and passersby, while at the same time forming the regulatory foundation that still governs cab, limo and rideshare transportation in the 21st century.
Now available for pre-order on Amazon!
