ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Heartfelt thanks to the Gnecco family, especially John and Betty Gnecco, William and Florence Gnecco Hall, and Mary Gnecco Treen, for sharing reminiscences and mementos of their great-aunt Rose Gnecco Ponzi Ebner. I am especially grateful to them for providing me with the letters Ponzi sent Rose during their marriage and after. I’m grateful also to Philip Treen for sharing his theories about his great-great uncle Ponzi.

I owe equal appreciation to Mary M. Grozier for trusting me with her memories and photographs of her father, Richard. Thanks also to Elizabeth and Damian Grozier.

I received generous support and genuine fellowship at the Batten Institute at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Special thanks to Bob Bruner and Debbie Fisher. Greg Fairchild sponsored me for the fellowship, and for that and so many other things I thank him, Tierney Temple-Fairchild, and their entire family.

My agent and friend Richard Abate made this book possible, despite the fact that he suspects that a distant relative of his lost money with Ponzi. Thanks to Kate Lee for believing in this idea and saying so. My editor, Jonathan Karp, has the rare gift of knowing precisely what a writer needs to achieve his dreams. He provides it with grace, charm, and a steady hand. I am grateful to the entire Random House team, notably Jonathan Jao, Dennis Ambrose, and Bonnie Thompson.

In Ponzi’s hometown of Lugo, Italy, I received invaluable help from Rosanna Rava, who oversees registry documents in city hall. When we met, Rosanna was wearing a T-shirt that said “Boston Celtics,” which I interpreted as a grand omen. “Boston! That’s where I’m from,” I said. Confusion swept across her face; Rosanna’s English was as sparse as my Italian. When I looked more closely, I noticed that below the basketball team’s name was a sketch of a baseball player in midswing, and below that were the meaningless words “Spring Trophy.” Nevertheless, she patiently listened as I explained Ponzi’s scheme in pidgin Italian. “Like Al Capone?” she asked. “Not really,” I said. “Capone took lives. Ponzi took money.” Rosanna smiled. “Ah. Bene.” Then she unearthed his birth record and census documents.

Genealogist Carolyn Ugolini traced Ponzi’s family history and led me to Rosanna. I am grateful for her creativity, persistence, and encouragement.

My friend and former professor Wilbur Doctor was among the journalists whom the Boston Post owed money when it failed a half century ago. Now I owe him, too, for the care he took in reading and improving this manuscript. I benefited as well from the insights and efforts of my friends and longtime colleagues Dick Lehr and Gerry O’Neill.

Ofer Gneezy and Christine McLaughlin graciously allowed me to traipse through their beautiful home to get a feel for what it was like when it belonged to Ponzi.

Henry Scannell of the Boston Public Library Microtext Department is a living treasure within a civic treasure. Thanks also to Aaron Schmidt of the library’s Print Department; research librarian Frank Wilmot of the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration; John Beck of the Albin O. Kuhn Library at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; archivists Edouard Desrochers and Shelley Bronk of Phillips Exeter Academy; Michael Moore of the National Archives and Records Administration; Massachusetts judicial archivist Elizabeth Bouvier; Lisa Tuite of the Boston Globe library; John Cronin of the Boston Herald library; Evan Ide, curator of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum; Nancy Richard of the Boston Historical Society; Jim Gallagher of the Beebe Library at Boston University; and Millie Teixiera, secretary and resident historian at Saint Anthony’s Church in Somerville. Mark Mathosian deserves credit for rescuing Ponzi’s autobiography.

Steve Bailey of the Boston Globe made me a banking reporter despite my unbalanced checkbook, a job that eventually set the stage for me to tackle this subject. For their enduring support, special thanks to Allan Zuckoff, Jeff Feigelson, Brian McGrory, Naftali Bendavid, Joann Muller, Chris Callahan, Ben Bradlee Jr., Wil Haygood, Jim and Deb Kreiter, Paul Kreiter, Jo Kreiter, Reita Ennis, Helene Atwan, Joe Kahn, Kate Shaplen, Dan Field, Collen Granahan, Ruth and Bill Weinstein, Jeff Struzenski, Amy Axelrod, Brooke and Eric Meltzer, and all my colleagues, students, and friends at Boston University.

My mother, Gerry Zuckoff, was a bookkeeper, and I suspect she would have seen the flaws in Ponzi’s plan her first day on the job. This book is dedicated to my father, Sid Zuckoff, who taught me to appreciate history and to value ideas and ideals. My daughters, Isabel and Eve, kept me happy and grounded in the present when my mind wandered to the past. My wife, Suzanne, is my Rose.