Jim Proser
Mr. Copacabana
An American History by Night
Mr. Copacabana is the outrageous life story of Monte Proser, creator and operator of the famous Copacabana nightclub in New York City. Monte’s life story is a sweeping epic of the early 20th century through the eyes of one of the most colorful characters in American history. Because he was the involuntary partner of a series of the most powerful gangsters of the era, Monte's story is also a keyhole view of the struggle between crime and conscience in America. It is a history of America by night.
Monte and the Assassins
Posted on Jul 22, 2015
This is the title of my new book about the year I spent living with my father in the Logan Inn in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Our family had been split up, with my mother and youngest brother, Timmy, going to Kingston, New York, to the big white wedding cake house on Albany Avenue where her mother, my grandmother, Anna T. Ball, lived with Jim Morgan.
I am named after Jim, who bought the big house for my grandmother and her 5 children, and lived in small room at the end of hallway. Of course, this fooled exactly no one – including Father Thomas at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and every other Catholic in Kingston.
More to come…