Author to sign 'Jailing The Johnston Gang' at Stottsville Inn Sept. 23

The historic Stottsville Inn will host a book talk and signing by Chester County author Bruce Mowday on his latest book, "Jailing The Johnston Gang: Bringing Serial Murders to Justice," at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23. The free event is open to the public. The Stottsville Inn, which looks like a classy place per its website, is located at 3512 Strasburg Road, Coatesville.

"Jailing The Johnston Gang" tells the story of the law enforcement officials who "placed their own lives in danger to incarcerate brothers Bruce, David and Norman Johnston and their band of paid killers, rapists and thieves," according to Mowday.

Chester County District Attorney Joseph A. Carroll called the leader of the gang, Bruce A. Johnston Sr., the most notorious criminal in the history of the county.

While Johnston was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder, Mowday uncovered information linking Johnston to 10 murders, one of them unsolved, including the ambush slaying of two Kennett Square policemen.

Incidentally, or not, I guess, in this case, one of the first victims was murdered and buried near the Stottsville Inn, the Chester County site of the booksigning.

Mowday, a resident of Uwchlan, Chester County, covered the criminal case of the three Johnston brothers when he was a reporter for The Mercury’s sister paper, The Daily Local News in West Chester. The book was released last year by Barricade Books of Fort Lee, N.J.

While we’re on the subject, Barricade Books Publisher Carole Stuart recently announced that "Jailing The Johnston Gang: Bringing Serial Murders to Justice" will be printed in paperback this fall.

The book was released by Barricade Books in 2009 and the hardback version is in its third printing. Stuart wrote in her blog, "The book caught on and was the cleanest selling book of our list last year. To the non-book people: no returns."

"I believe this book reveals the dark side of human nature on the part of the Johnston brothers and also depicts what is best about the law enforcement community," Mowday said.

Mowday is working with Delaware County’s Jim Donahue on a new book, "Why The Hall Not," for Barricade Books. Due to be released next year, the book is about Philadelphia Phillies great Richie Ashburn’s road to the Hall of Fame and Donahue role in leading a petition drive by fans to have Ashburn inducted.

For more information about the Stottsville Inn booksigning or to make dinner reservations, call Janice Keller-DiGennaro, manager of the Stottsville Inn, at 610-857-4090.

Mowday, who has written books on the Civil War, American Revolution and Chester County history, has scheduled additional talks on Jailing The Johnston Gang. For more information, visit http://www.mowday.com/.

I wrote about "Jailing The Johnston Gang" and how it was a basis for the 1986 film "At Close Range" (think Sean Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Christopher Walken, and a soundtrack including "Live to Tell" by Madonna) in a blog post in April 2009. To check out that post, click here.

Live to Tell

The 1986 film "At Close Range" was based on the real life Chester County crime family led by Bruce Johnston Sr. in the 1960s and 1970s. Starring Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson, the film happened right here in Mercury territory. It that doesn't ring a bell, Madonna's "Live to Tell," which got a lot of airplay, was written for the film (I think she was still married to Sean Penn at the time).

I haven't seen the film in at least 20 years. Curiosity makes me want to go unearth it from the drama stash at Blockbuster some night. But what the bibliophile in me should do is check out local author/journalist Bruce Mowday's new book, "Jailing The Johnston Gang: Bringing Serial Murderers to Justice" (Barricade, $22.95, 272 pages). Barricade recently announced the book is already in its second printing.

Or I could just read Mercury Editor Nancy March's blog about it, True-crime novel brings back memories. She covered the Johnston murder trials when she was a reporter for The Mercury.

And if you'd like to meet the author, he has several area appearances coming up:

“I’ve been receiving calls to schedule additional talks throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland," said Uwchlan Township resident Mowday in a recent Barricade press release. "There is tremendous interest in this story of criminals who terrorized this area for decades. The book has also been selling extremely well on Amazon.com.”

Signed books can be obtained from the author, Mowday, by calling him at 610-873-0727, E-mailing mowday@mowday.com or visiting www.mowday.com. The 272-page book, with 17 photographs, costs $22.95.

Mowday’s local speaking and signing schedule includes:

*April 18 Signing at Exton Barnes & Noble 9 a.m. until noon.
*April 23 Talk and signing at Longwood Rotary at 6:45 a.m.
*April 25 Parkesburg Community Day signing from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.
*April 29 Talk and signing at Easttown Library at 7 p.m.
*April 30 Talk and signing at Coatesville Rotary at noon.
*May 3 Book signing at Mystery Book, Mechanicsburg. 1 to 4 p.m.
*May 4 Talk and signing at Chester County Corvette Club at 7 p.m.
*May 15 Talk and signing at Caesar Rodney Rotary Club, Wilmington, 7:30 a.m.
*May 16 Signing at Downingtown’s 150th anniversary celebration.
*May 18 Talk and signing at Okahocking Society at 8 p.m.
*May 21 Talk and signing at Boyertown Lions at 6:30 p.m.
*June 6 Signing at Bayard Taylor Memorial Library Home and Garden Tour
*September 12-13 Chadds Ford Days signing.