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The dope on a gangster's confession

When Jimmy Hoffa said to Frank Sheeran "I heard you paint houses," they both understood the code—to paint a house is to kill a man. Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett gives his take on the book "I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa by Charles Brandt (recorded October 19, 2016). This compelling history presents Sheeran's deathbed confession as a ruthless man who was not just a high official of the Teamsters Union, but also a Mafia assassin. 

Mayor Burchett has served as Mayor of Knox County since 2010, after serving in the Tennessee legislature (House and Senate) for 16 years.

(This book was published in 2004 as "I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa. The 2016 updated edition may have the alternate title above.)

About the Podcast

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Knox Pods
Podcasts of Knox County Public Library

About your hosts

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Melissa Brenneman

Melissa listens to hours of podcasts on most days. She started the habit with the intention of taking long walks, but podcasts proved to be more addicting than exercise. She records, edits and mixes podcasts for the library.
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Alan May

Alan May works as a librarian at Lawson McGhee Library. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama. In his spare time, he reads and writes poetry. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Quarterly, The Hollins Critic, The Idaho Review, DIAGRAM, and others. He has published three books of poetry.