All Souls : A Family Story from Southie

by MACDONALD, MICHAEL PATRICK

• ISBN13: 9780345441775
• ISBN10: 034544177X
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary

Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in "the best place in the world"--the Old Colony projects of South Boston--where 85% of the residents collect welfare in an area with the highest concentration of impoverished whites in the U.S. In All Souls, MacDonald takes us deep into the secret heart of Southie. With radiant insight, he opens up a contradictory world, where residents are besieged by gangs and crime but refuse to admit any problems, remaining fiercely loyal to their community. MacDonald also introduces us to the unforgettable people who inhabit this proud neighborhood. We meet his mother, Ma MacDonald, an accordion-playing, spiked-heel-wearing, indomitable mother to all; Whitey Bulger, the lord of Southie, gangster and father figure, protector and punisher; and Michael's beloved siblings, nearly half of whom were lost forever to drugs, murder, or suicide. By turns explosive and touching, All Souls ultimately shares a powerful message of hope, renewal, and redemption.

Author Biography

Michael Patrick MacDonald helped launch Boston's successful gun-buyback program and is founder of the South Boston Vigil Group. He lives in South Boston, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

All Souls' Night	1	(15)
Freedoms	16	(34)
Ghetto Heaven	50	(29)
Fight the Power	79	(28)
Looking for Whitey	107	(28)
August	135	(21)
Holy Water	156	(17)
Stand-Up Guy	173	(26)
Exile	199	(24)
Justice	223	(31)
Vigil	254	(11)
Acknowledgments	265