Literary rights agent Catherine MacGregor of HarperCollins will be at the London Book Fair in London, England this week, gauging world interest in the Bandido Massacre, the biggest known biker massacre anywhere in the world. Australia, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany and Italy all figure in the book, from Australian bikers encouraging the independence of the No Surrender Crew in Canada to Mick the Nomad of Britain, trying to forge some sort of peace after the slaughter. She’ll be at Booth G305. It’ll be interesting hear from her on the response over there.

On another note, convicted mass murderer Wayne (Kellestine) remains an unhappy man in a solitary cell apart from other prisoners at Millhaven Penitentiary.

I lived in London,  Ontario for 11 years while growing up, and worked briefly as a paperboy for the London Free Press. Getting up so early in the day didn’t come naturally and I had to drink a Coke every morning as I pedaled about my route, just to keep awake. Eventually I got a part-time job in the sports department, chasing down scores from high school sports, among other things. By then I was attending the University of Western Ontario’s Masters of Journalism program and drinking massive amounts of coffee to stay awake. My extended time in London, Ontario means a review in the Free Press is a big thing for me, and so I was happy this morning to read a positive one from reporter/author Chip Martin today. In a couple of hours, I imagine that former friends at Central Secondary in London like Ross McLean will be reading it, when they have their morning coffee, which is a cool thought. I imagine my former Central Secondary English teacher James French will see it too. I didn’t need Coke or coffee to stay awake in his classes, as he was truly excellent. Among other things, he brought in world-acclaimed local author Alice Munro to speak to us on the life of a writer.

My thoughts today are with the families of the eight victims, who learned four years ago today that they had lost their loved ones. It’s easy to think of the mother of Frank (Bam Bam) Salerno, who told court in her victim impact statement that she finds some solace in words of Tennyson that she studied as a schoolgirl:

Oh yet we trust that somehow good

Will be the final goal of ill,

To pangs of nature, sins of will,

Defects of doubt, and taints of blood:

That nothing walks with aimless feet:

That not one life shall be destroy’d,

Or cast as rubbish to the void,

When God hath made the pile complete…

It is almost four years ago to the day that the Bandido Massacre took place and I find myself thinking this Easter Weekend alot about the families of the murder victims. I was struck at the trial at just what nice people they are and how dearly they loved their sons/husbands/fathers/brothers who were slain. It was such a sharp contrast between real family and false brotherhood. The raw emotion of mothers, sisters and others sobbing at the back of the courtroom was searing and something that doesn’t go away. Some found a measure of comfort in knowing that their sons, brothers, fathers and husbands had a chance to make peace with God before being slain. Such thoughts are especially poignant at Easter Time.

The Hells Angels clubhouse on Ortono Avenue in Oshawa is now just a pile of rubble, after authorities levelled it. It had been empty since the province seized it a couple of years ago, as proceeds of crime.  The bunker/bungalow was originally a Satan’s Choice meeting spot, back when Bernie Guindon was the Choice president. Guindon patched over to the Hells Angels, but left the club five years ago. His son Harley (who isn’t a Hells Angel) is in the hole at Milhaven Penitentiary, after refusing to say who’s smuggling drugs into the prison.

A nice article today in Tuesday Guide.  The question and answer interview gave me a chance to work Bob Dylan in, which is always nice. His song Gotta Serve Somebody really hits at the need by people to connect to something that seems bigger, which in the case of the No Surrender Crew was fatal.

I have a live radio interview tomorrow (Friday March 26) at 9.30 am EDT on the BBC World Service. They began following this story immediately after the murders, and stayed with it.   Bikers seem to have a more civilized image on the other side of the pond. Eight years ago, a Hells Angel called “Snob” rode in the official procession to honour the Queen’s 50 years on the throne. That sort of official sanction would be unfathomable in Ottawa.  I also  find it fascinating how Irish bikers can fight among themselves, but they band together to keep the American-based clubs out.

No wonder my former Toronto Star colleague Linwood Barclay is semi-addicted to googling bestseller lists. His novel Fear the Worst is topping the Globe and Mail’s bestseller list, while his Never Look Away is #8. The Bandido Massacre‘s holding its own, with three weeks on the Globe and Mail’s bestseller list for Canadian non-fiction. It has also made the Canadian Booksellers Association top 10 and tops Amazon.ca for a category called “Murder and Mayhem,” and #2 on a list called “True Accounts,” after a couple weeks at #1. It’s not listed in the “Organized Crime” category, which probably makes sense, since the Canadian Bandidos weren’t particularly organized and didn’t make much, if anything, from crime.

George (Bandido George) Wegers, once the most powerful Bandido in the world, lies today in a nursing home, broke and without any status in the club. Wegers suffered severe spinal damage while cruising alone on his Harley Street on the afternoon of Sunday, September 27. He was turning off Interstate 5 in Skagit County, Washington State, near his home when his bike spun out of control. There were no drugs or alcohol in his system, although his helmet wasn’t Department of Transporation approved. Apparently he was being tailed by federal agents at the time of the crash. He had already been bumped from the club because of a television interview he gave. Just a half dozen years ago, top Canadian Bandidos grumbled about how they couldn’t get a telephone audience with him. Now, he’s physically and financially busted and out of the club, and they’re either dead or in prison. Odd to think that, not long ago, they all wore patches with “BFFB,” for “Bandidos Forever, Forever Bandidos.”