GUEST INTRO: Gus Russo was/is a professional musician, composer, bandleader, andprivate instructor. In that incarnation, he played with, or in tandem with, many well-known acts including John Phillips, The New Mamas and Papas, Phoebe Snow, MichaelMurphy, The Byrds, Livingston Taylor, Poco, Mary Travers (Peter, Paul and Mary),Commander Cody, and Firefall (w/ Rick Roberts). Russo the musician also wrotecommercial jingles and low-budget film scores (Basket Case, Brain Damage, etc.)As an actor, Russo appeared in the opening night stage adaptation of TommyWiseau’s The Room at Washington’s AFI Theater (6-10-11). In recent years, Russo gothis musical kicks as leader of the six-piece group, String Theory, which emulated swingbands that took Europe by storm in the early twentieth century, and mixed it with the bestof the American swing combos. With acoustic jazz guitars, violin, upright bass, pedalsteel guitar, and vocalists, String Theory took on Django Reinhardt, Nat King Cole,Benny Goodman, Hoagy Carmichael, Dan Hicks and other greats that aren't heard nearly enough.Besides his career in music, Gus Russo is a veteran investigative reporter, author, documentary producer, and musician. His first book, Live By the Sword: The Secret War Against Castro and theDeath of JFK (Bancroft, 1998), was praised by the New York Times as “compelling, exhaustively researched and even handed.” Kirkus Reviews called Sword, “Probably the last book on the Kennedy assassination you willneed to read....Gripping and convincing!” The book was a Book of the Month Cluband History Book Club Featured Alternate. Sword was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1999, and was optioned for a mini-series before publication by Showtime Networks. Russo next authored The Outfit: The Role of Chicago’s Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America (Bloomsbury, 2002). The Outfit was also nominated for the Pulitzer, and was optioned before publication by USA Networks.Russo's extensive research is amply evident, and he has made use of recently disclosed records topaint a fuller picture than predecessors such as Seymour Hersh and Brian Ross were ableto...a worthy addition to the genre.” In January 2006, Russo, as co-writer with Wilfried Huismann, delivered abreakthrough 90-minute documentary for the German public television network WDR.The film, “Rendezvous With Death,” clarifies the relationship between Cuba’sintelligence service and JFK’s killer. At this writing, the film has aired in fifteencountries. In addition, Russo was an occasional consultant to Hollywood screenwriterRon Bass. Russo’s fifth book (w/ Steve Molton), was Brothers in Arms: The Kennedys,the Castros, and the Politics of Murder (October 2008). This book was inspired by the“Rendezvous” film. Brothers was named Winner of the 2008 History Prize by the NewYork Book Festival. In 2009, Russo produced and co-wrote Generation 9-11, adocumentary feature film on religious intolerance, for Academy Award-winning directorNigel Nobel. In 2017, Russo was inducted to the Advisory Council of the National Museum ofOrganized Crime and Law Enforcement (The Mob Museum) in Las Vegas.Russo’s next book was Best of Enemies (w/ Eric Dezenhall, Twelve Books, Oct2018). Enemies was hailed by the New York Times as “Fast paced and lively.” Kirkuscalled it “A rollicking tale of Cold War espionage, and Library Journal called it “Anengrossing tale...Highly recommended.” The book was optioned for a feature film beforepublication by a partnership of Robert de Niro (Tribeca Films) and Ron Howard (ImagineEnt.) It is currently under option to Atlas Entertainment.Russo has worked an investigative reporter for PBS’ Frontline series, as well as two ABCNews Special Reports with Peter Jennings (Dangerous World: The Kennedy Years 1997, and Dan Rather’s CBS Reports. Russo served as Senior Editorial Producer for Peter Jennings’ November 2003 two-hour documentary on the assassination of President Kennedy, BeyondConspiracy and, previously, Jack Anderson Specials. At Frontline, Russo was the co-lead reporter on a massive two-year investigation that led to the landmark four-hour production, Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald (1993). For that project alone, Russo traveled to three countries and interviewed over three hundred primary witnesses, here and abroad. Russo has also been a consultant for programs such as Sixty Minutes, Sixty Minutes II, and Eye To Eye with Connie Chung; as well asdocumentary productions based in England, France, Germany, Japan, and Mexico. Russohas appeared on countless radio and TV programs, including NBC Nightly News, NPR’sWait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!, The History Channel (numerous shows), A&E’s Biography(Jack Ruby), Hardball with Chris Matthews, MSNBC’s Nachman, and with Dan Rather.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/quorum-radio-episodes-wrmi--497924/support.
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