Chapter 1: Heroes & Villains

Lyons was what I would call a blue-collar suburb.

It was mostly working families.

If you drove through it during the day, it seemed like any other close-in suburb or even a neighborhood in the city of Chicago where you had families that were just trying to make a dollar and trying to make ends meet.

You had Reynolds Metals in McCook.

You had Hawthorne Works going in Cicero.

Most of the people that lived in Lyons worked at one or the other or Electro-Motive.

So it was a very tight-knit community.

It was a wonderful place to be.

It was a great place to raise families, and most of the people were honest, hardworking people who went to work from 9 to 5.

It was a town that was mostly family-oriented.

A nice, comfortable village with good schools and activities for the kids.

These are the voices of the lions I grew up in.

And depending on whether you lived here or worked here, what your job was, which side of the law you lived your life on, or if you were an early bird or a night owl, the village can either sound idyllic or apocalyptic, depending on who you're talking to.

So I'm going to introduce you to a variety of people.

Family, friends, neighbors, cops, robbers, politicians, federal agents, U.S. attorneys, bikers, and outfit associates.

Each has their own story and unique perspective.

So imagine them the cast of a sort of underworld Our Town as we follow the life of our lead, homemaker-turned-crusader, Judy Petrucci.

Here's Judy's daughter, Gina.

When you're going across Lyons, depending on which way the wind blew, you could smell the cornstarch from Argo.

You could smell the Des Plaines River.

I can close my eyes and just about be there right now.

In the summers, we would ride our bikes to Cermak Pool, swim all day.

I can remember going to Millbridge.

They would have sprawler skating parties there.

Daytime Lions was just a quiet little village.

Lyons was what I would call a blue-collar suburb.

It was mostly working families.

If you drove through it during the day, it seemed like any other close-in suburb or even a neighborhood in the city of Chicago where you had families that were just trying to make a dollar and trying to make ends meet.

You had Reynolds Metals in McCook.

You had Hawthorne Works going in Cicero.

Most of the people that lived in Lyons worked at one or the other or Electro-Motive.

So it was a very tight-knit community.

It was a wonderful place to be.

It was a great place to raise families, and most of the people were honest, hardworking people who went to work from 9 to 5.

It was a town that was mostly family-oriented.

A nice, comfortable village with good schools and activities for the kids.

These are the voices of the lions I grew up in.

And depending on whether you lived here or worked here, what your job was, which side of the law you lived your life on, or if you were an early bird or a night owl, the village can either sound idyllic or apocalyptic, depending on who you're talking to.

So I'm going to introduce you to a variety of people.

Family, friends, neighbors, cops, robbers, politicians, federal agents, U.S. attorneys, bikers, and outfit associates.

Each has their own story and unique perspective.

So imagine them the cast of a sort of underworld Our Town as we follow the life of our lead, homemaker-turned-crusader, Judy Petrucci.

Here's Judy's daughter, Gina.

When you're going across Lyons, depending on which way the wind blew, you could smell the cornstarch from Argo.

You could smell the Des Plaines River.

I can close my eyes and just about be there right now.

In the summers, we would ride our bikes to Cermak Pool, swim all day.

I can remember going to Millbridge.

They would have sprawler skating parties there.

Daytime Lions was just a quiet little village.