For the past month, I've been making modest excursions out in to the wild charms of my home state -- remembering what a quaint and insane little place I come from. Walking around the beautiful but unnervingly quiet and weirdly populated Downcity Arts district of Providence on Monday, I picked up a copy of the Providence Monthly. Gracing the cover of the magazine was the beloved and enigmatic talisman of the city: former Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Jr.The occasion for a giant, smiling Buddy in a tan suit and bright red boxing gloves jabbing at the Providence skyline? His imminent release from prison. Or more precisely, the federal penitentiary, having served due time on corruption charges, stemming from "Operation Plunder Dome."
And Rhode Island welcomes the convicted ex-mayor back, with open arms. Again. For the second time. (To be fair, the mood is more mixed this time -- but there is also more than enough adoration to go around).
In case you aren't familiar with one of the best politicians in America, a couple of quick, unsourced tidbits:
- "I'm not afraid of this. Ninety-seven times zero is zero" - the Mayor's reaction to the 97-page indictment in the Operation Plunder Dome case, in April 2001
- The secret of the "Mayor's Own Marinara Sauce," a well-regarded bottled pasta sauce, is in the carrots. Thus according to the Mayor, from prison. The sauce was widely available in Providence, and all of who proceeds go to local school charities. Sort of like Paul Newman, if Paul Newman were a mob-tied twice-convicted felon who singlehandedly resurrected a moribund Providence downtown.
- Once threatened to have Harry Connick Jr.'s stage manager "whacked."
- First jail term was for assault and kidnapping of a friend that he believed to be sleeping with his estranged wife. Buddy's driver testified against him, and some of the apocryphal stories of that fateful evening include Buddy beating his friend with a log from the fireplace, putting a cigarette out on his friend, and urinating on his friend.
- Buddy was re-elected as the Mayor of Providence as an Independent immediately after his release from prison.
- Buddy was the visionary and motivating force behind the revitalization of Providence's once-decrepit downtown. It's safe now. There is a waterway and a real gondola from Venice. Public art flourishes. Families bring their children out on summer nights.
What can you to prepare for the second coming of Buddy?- Learn more about Buddy
- Befriend Buddy on MySpace
- Watch the Buddy Cianci musical or documentary film
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