Taylor Pensoneau will be signing copies of his new book “Dapper and Deadly: The True Story of Black Charlie Harris,” at Flora Public Library on Sunday, February 28, from 1:00-4:00 pm. Copies of the book will be available for $20.00.
Pensoneau is an Illinois author whose latest book, “Dapper & Deadly”, chronicles the life of Charles Bryan “Blackie” Harris, the last of the big-name desperadoes from southern Illinois – a man viewed by the FBI as a lethal figure in American crime.
Other books by Pensoneau include major political biographies and “Brothers Notorious: The Sheltons,” a popular account of the rise and fall of the best known gangster brothers to come out of downstate Illinois. “Brothers Notorious” covers the lives and times of Carl, Big Earl and Bernie Shelton, who were kingpins of racketeering in much of Illinois south of Chicago from the 1920s through the late 1940s.
After his 16-year stint as an Illinois political writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ended in 1978, Pensoneau began a 26-year career with the Illinois Coal Association, the trade organization for the state’s coal industry. He retired in December 2003 as president of the association.
He now resides in the village of New Berlin, 15 miles west of Springfield. Together with his wife Elizabeth, the retired editor of Outdoor Illinois magazine, they own and operate Downstate Publications. He is the former president of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. He also is a member of the Advisory Board for Illinois Issues magazine, former president of the Sangamon County Historical Society and president of the Board of Trustees of the West Sangamon Public Library District.
For more information, contact the library at (618) 662-6553.
