Rose Keefe

The Fighting Parson: the Life of Reverend Leslie Spracklin (Canada's Eliot Ness) Rose Keefe

Reverend Spracklin was a gangster?s worst nightmare. Known to the press and public as the ?Fighting Parson?, he and his handpicked squad of dry agents burst into the roadhouses of Essex County with pistols drawn and fists clenched. They chased liquor-laden vehicles through dark city streets and along rough country roads, and intercepted rumrunners on the Detroit River in their high-powered speedboat, the Panther II. The minister went, often alone, into the most dangerous nightspots of 1920s Windsor, and responded to opposition by punching, not preaching. He thought nothing of carrying around a stack of blank search warrants and filling them out himself as needed. He could not be scared or bought, and he survived one assassination attempt after another. It was only when a roadhouse owner who also happened to be a long-time enemy died at his hands that the campaign was finally stopped. His life is told in this short book.