WHEN AL CAPONE WAS FOOLED

Now that the city is publicly admitting more about Al Capone (2/16), I can admit to a little family secret. In the late 20s my young father had opened an auto repair shop near Cicero. Big Al decided Dad was going to be one of his "speed guys" (meaning mechanics who would regularly soup up his mob cars).

Dad made sure Al's first visit was his last. My Father quietly messed up the accelerator so that the next day Capone stormed in and said, "You're the dumbest mechanic I've ever seen!"

Exactly the way Dad wanted to be thought of by the mobster and his goons. They never came back, and my Father went on to live a safe enough life to help achieve a different kind of product: Me...! Dad, like a lot of other good men, never made headlines, but they did help make Chicago.