I’m looking forward to visiting The Village Bookshop in Bayfield on Saturday, October 23.  They’ve organized a reading of The Bandido Massacre in the  parlor of The Little Inn in Bayfield at 3 pm. Admission’s free. There’s something about being in a place where people genuinely care about books that makes you feel good about humanity.

Andre Watteel runs soup kitchens for the poor in Kitchener. He’s also a top Hells Angel and former top member of the Satan’s Choice. Watteel is considered a key player in the patchover that melded former members of provincial clubs into the international Hells Angels a decade ago. And soon, Watteel may also be a convict, after pleading guilty to cocaine trafficking charges in Hamilton.

It was nice to read in the Globe this weekend that The Bandido Massacre is still in the top 10 for Canadian true crime books. I’ll be sending one later today to a friend of Boxer Muscedere’s, who knew him when Boxer visited Italy shortly before his murder. I’ll be directing Boxer’s buddy to pay particular attention to page 352, in which one of the killers marvels at how Boxer went out of this world like a man.

A book that will soon be in the top 10 is Bad Seeds: The True Story of Toronto’s Galloway Boys Street Gang by my friend and Toronto Star colleague, Betsy Powell. I’ve already picked up a copy. Betsy’s smart, she can write and knows the justice system through and through: her dad Clay was Wayne Kellestine’s lawyer in the Bandido case.

A reader emails to tell me that he grew up with Jamie Flanz in Cote St. Luc, Quebec. “I remember his first day in public school in Grade 4 and I remember playing softball on his team in 1992,” his email states.

“I never considered Jamie to be a friend but he was a rare bird in that he could be friendly and well-liked by everyone in school, every clique knew and liked him,” he continues.

“To this day it blows my mind how a guy like this got involved with Bandidos. The only thing I remember biker about him was a leather hat back in the day and that he used to smoke weed on occasion at softball.”

I have to say I share his feelings. How a smart man, with a loving family, could get involved with the likes of Wayne (Weiner) Kellestine, is one of life’s mysteries. I suspect Flanz bonded with Boxer Muscedere, who was a good guy who had a blind spot for Kellestine’s insanity. Flanz and Boxer were both big on loyalty, which is usually a good thing. In Kellestine’s world, however, it was a fatal weakness.