T. J. English

T. J. English (born 6 October 1957), is an Irish American author and journalist known primarily for his non-fiction books about differing aspects of organized crime, both contemporary and historical. His book, "The Westies: Inside the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob", first published in 1990, is the best-selling account of an Irish American gang in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in New York City. The Westies operated primarily in the 1970s and 1980s, though the roots of the gang go all the way back to the Prohibition Era.

T. J. English was born in Tacoma, Washington and grew up in a large Irish Catholic family of ten children. His father was a steel worker and his mother a social worker for Catholic Charities. In 1980, he moved to New York City and worked in series of odd jobs including bartender, janitor and taxi driver while working as a freelance journalist. His writing for "Irish America Magazine" led to his first book, "The Westies". Later, in the mid-1990s, English wrote a series of articles for "Playboy" magazine entitled "The New Mob," which explored the new face of organized crime.

He later published "Born to Kill" (1995), about a Vietnamese gang based in New York City's Chinatown, and "Paddy Whacked" (2005), a history of the Irish American gangster. In January 2007, Mainstream Publishing Company published "The Havana Mob: Gangsters, Gamblers, Showgirls and Revolutionaries in Cuba".

English is also a screenwriter who has written episodes of the television crime dramas "NYPD Blue" and "". He shared a Humanitas Prize with David Simon and Julie Martin for the episode "Shades of Gray"cite episode
title = Shades of Gray
episodelink =
series = Homicide: Life on the Street
serieslink = Homicide: Life on the Street
credits = Adam Bernstein
writers = Julie Martin and David Simon (story), T. J. English (teleplay)
network = NBC
station =
city =
airdate = 1999-01-08
season = 7
number = 10] .cite web
author =
title = 60 Minute Category
publisher = Humanitas Prize
accessdate = 2006-09-28
url = http://www.humanitasprize.org/winners60m.htm]

Bibliography

*"" (2008)
*"" (2007)
*"Paddy Whacked" (2005)
*" Born to Kill" (1995)
*"The Westies" (1990)

References

External links

* [http://www.tj-english.com/ T.J. English's official website: Includes synopses, reviews, historical photos, cover art, and contact info]