Richard Margittay, a retired career law enforcement officer from the Dearborn Police Department (Michigan), is a police-trained specialist in carnival game enforcement. Having a desire to research and expose lawlessness on carnival midways, he has authored two books on the subject: Carnival Games: The Perfect Crimes 2009, and Carnival Games: $10,000,000,000 Hoodwink Racket, 2011 (Xlibris). Margittay, a native New Yorker and graduate of Western Michigan University (Sociology), is also a professional sports photographer with photo credits in books and several national magazines including Sports Illustrated. Serving in the Michigan Army National Guard and Army Reserves, Margittay is a retired commissioned infantry officer. In 2011, Margittay was sued for $100,000 in Federal court by a $150 million/year carnival corporation and its CEO for referring to their swindling carnies as “crooks and serial criminals.” The case was dismissed.
Acknowledgment: The author wishes to express his appreciation and give special thanks to Maria Buffa, who saw the possibilities and helped to give this article its shape.
On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the city’s firefighters. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Justice on Fire is OConnor’s detailed account of the terrible explosion that led to the firefighters’ deaths and the terrible injustice that followed. Also available from Amazon
