Five-year-old Ricky Atkinson was excited when he found the shiny .38-calibre revolver hidden in his father\u2019s bedroom. Sonny Atkinson managed a bar in a rough-and-tumble downtown Toronto neighbourhood and he often brought the nightly earnings home. The boy took the loaded gun and his four-year-old brother out into the back yard.\u00a0 \u201cI got my younger brother Dwane to stand against the wall with an apple on his head. The whole William Tell thing and I attempted to shoot the apple.\u201d<\/p>\n

He tugged on the trigger but it wouldn\u2019t budge. He slapped the weapon against his thigh and he bashed it on the ground. His mother spied the mischief from a kitchen window and stormed into the yard before the would-be marksman discovered that the gun\u2019s safety was engaged. Spankings ensued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my first memory of doing something really, really bad\u2026\u201d says Atkinson.<\/p>\n

Today, after reconciling his past and life, he works to educate youth and people from all backgrounds about the no-win choice of being a criminal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A breathtakingly scandalous story, and a tale of redemption after having been drawn into a life of crime.\u00a0A sober memoir that provides a solid understanding of how crime is situated in structural, cultural, historical, and situational contexts. This is the life story of Ricky Atkinson, leader of the Dirty Tricks Gang, who grew up fast and hard in one of Toronto\u2019s toughest neighbourhoods during the social ferment of the Sixties, during the fledgling Black Power Movement in Canada. His life was made all the more difficult coming from a black, white and aboriginal mixed family. Under his leadership, the gang eventually robbed more banks and pulled off so many jobs, that it is unrivalled in Canadian history. Follow him from the mean streets to backroom plotting, to jail and back again as he learns the hard lessons of leadership, courage and betrayal.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Pricing note: this is a large book that requires significant postage, and so that has been included in the listed price.<\/p>\n

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