Richard marinick and the 'boyos' of south boston
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In South Boston, a "boyo" is a foot soldier for organized crime. Richard Marinick knows something about the life. "I worked in the Combat Zone [Boston's once-thriving
adult entertainment district] and I rubbed shoulders with a lot of wise guys," he tells NPR's Scott Simon. "These were organized crime figures and I was 19 looking at them...
with beautiful girls and lots of cash." He went on to work as a state trooper, but moved into the debt-collection business and eventually did 10 years in prison for bank robbery. But he
used that time to develop his writing skills. And his novel _Boyos_ takes him full circle, in a sense -- it's a penetrating look at the lives of young thugs and old goons settling
scores in Southie. Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.