‘The Ghosts of Eden Park’ Tells The True Crime Story Of America’s Most Successful Bootlegger

August 29th, 2019

Karen Abbott will be presenting her newest book “The Ghosts of Eden Park” at the Decatur Book Festival on Sept. 1.

Courtesy of Karen Abbott

Karen Abbott is a New York Times best-selling author of narrative non-fiction. Her new book is “The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, The Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz-Age America.”

The book follows a couple key characters, starting with a German immigrant named George Remus. He decides to quit his career as a lawyer and take up the underground life of trafficking whiskey during the Prohibition Era. Remus becomes known as the “King of Bootleggers” and within two year he’s a multi-millionaire.

“He used his background as a lawyer and pharmacist to look-over the Volstead Act and find a loop-hole. The loop-hole he found was that with a physicians prescription, it was legal to manufacture, buy, sell, distribute alcohol for ‘medicinal purposes,’” said Abbott. The irony about Remus’ career was that he was also a teetotaler.

Remus’s glamorous second wife, Imogene, was his business partner and confidant. She came from a poor background, and had no trouble adjusting to the wealthy lifestyle once they married. The couple went to great lengths in order to integrate themselves among the high-class. They threw Gasby-esque parties, gave away diamond stick pen party favors, and free cars to their attendees. They were living the fabulous lifestyle, until Mabel Walker Willebrandt came along.

After only nine months after women had the right to vote, Mabel Walker Willebrandt was appointed to the position of U.S. Assistant Attorney General. She was in charge of all Prohibition-related violations and was determined to take down George Remus. “I think Willebrandt struck the balance that many women still have to strike today. You know you can’t be too emotional, or too stoic, or risk being seen as unfriendly. You can’t be too frivolous or too series. You can’t become sexless, but don’t over play your charm. It was this very intricate balance,” said Abbott.

Abbott will appear at the AJC Decatur Book festival on Sunday at the Sanctuary of Decatur Presbyterian Church at 5 p.m.