Extreme wealth could buy a mansion in Millionaires' Row but not immunity from unsavory business dealings or shameful behavior. May Hanna gave her millionaire ex-husband's hired Pinkerton detectives the slip to sneak out of the country. To escape financial embarrassment, James Potter, the manager of a prominent Euclid Avenue apartment building, gave his family cough medicine laced with poison, killing his entire family including himself. Married to a Millionaires' Row doctor, the infamous con woman Cassie Chadwick posed as Andrew Carnegie's illegitimate daughter and forged a fake $5 million check. Author Alan Dutka delves into sixteen tales of anguish and deceit that offer a startling perspective on Cleveland's super-rich.
Native Clevelander Alan Dutka is a retired executive, author and a popular speaker at historical societies, libraries and community centers. He authored four business books and has published five Cleveland history books including Cleveland in the Gilded Age. Alan earned a BBA at Cleveland State University, an MS at Case-Western Reserve University and an MS from Cleveland State University.