tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post2142841618280982581..comments2024-03-22T19:13:05.266-04:00Comments on The Dusty Bookcase: A Bank Swindler Tries to Cash InBrian Busbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-54443542839224025352019-09-13T18:43:06.703-04:002019-09-13T18:43:06.703-04:00I am a decendet of this man. I find it fascinatin...I am a decendet of this man. I find it fascinating that he managed to swindle so many banks in his lifetime. Wish I could have met him. RIPAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-19847381308515217532018-02-03T23:28:34.757-05:002018-02-03T23:28:34.757-05:00I knew him in approx 1973. I met him through an a...I knew him in approx 1973. I met him through an acquaintance at a bookstore on St. Catherine Street in Montreal near Atwater. He passed away shortly thereafter at the Reddy Memorial Hospital, a block or so away from the bookstore.<br /><br />He told me about being in jail in Kingston and he heard about men having sex with other men in that jail. He was quite adamant that didn't happen. As time went by, I saw him one day and he told me a documentary was going to be on tv on this subject but given he lived in a rooming house, he didn't have access to a tv. I invited him to watch it on mine. He came over and sat on a chair that he pulled right up to the tv. He left my home that evening shaking his head that there was no sex in prisons because he never witnessed it. I was sorry to learn of his passing.<br />He did write another manuscript for a book but never got around to publishing it. Geraldine Leavittnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-23234120366525050422016-03-03T19:16:30.460-05:002016-03-03T19:16:30.460-05:00He was a disgrace in the eyes of his family being ...He was a disgrace in the eyes of his family being a prominent name in the growth of Waterloo and looked upon in high esteem by all. Although, as you mentioned, he was somewhat of a local legend in a small town. A bigger than life character to those who where ready to lend an ear for a good story. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-48337670512680484532016-03-03T17:38:22.975-05:002016-03-03T17:38:22.975-05:00I imagine Parmalee was a local legend - something ...I imagine Parmalee was a local legend - something of a hero perhaps, given the way most of us think of banks.<br /><br />Thanks for the <i>Ottawa Citizen</i> link. That's the <i>Weekend Magazine</i> piece I describe as a rudimentary version of the memoir.Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-58889218009505882542016-02-29T22:21:06.666-05:002016-02-29T22:21:06.666-05:00I was born in Waterloo, Quebec, Canada where Chris...I was born in Waterloo, Quebec, Canada where Christmas was also born. As a young boy I had heard of a Christmas Parmelee but it wasn`t until I asked my Dad and he handed me a signed copy from May 14, 1968 that Lucius had signed for my Dad who knew him very well and his multiple stories and local bars and such. Any way if you want to see the book in another angle, you should read the Ottawa Citizen newspaper from February 4th 1956 and subsequent weeks. Here is the link<br /><br />https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19560204&id=__gxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9OMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4817,1012522&hl=en<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-84935365465087446642014-12-16T12:40:56.842-05:002014-12-16T12:40:56.842-05:00I remember liking Duplessis, but that was written ...I remember liking <i>Duplessis</i>, but that was written and read long before Conrad Black turned to crime - or so it would seem. That I think of <i>The Confessions of a Bank Swindler</i> as a favourite, but not <i>Duplessis</i> probably says something.Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-22626239794442605342014-12-16T10:51:49.819-05:002014-12-16T10:51:49.819-05:00I thought that his book was better written, and ce...I thought that his book was better written, and certainly less pompusly written, than anything by Conrad Black. Still the best work by a Canadian convicted criminal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-53344142256932700162013-05-27T11:29:07.408-04:002013-05-27T11:29:07.408-04:00I think 'character' is just the word to de...I think 'character' is just the word to describe Lucius Parmalee. One never knows just how much to believe of his story; he was a swindler, after all. That said, the bare bones are certainly true - and my albeit limited fact-checking didn't catch anything untrue.<br /><br />The news that you found a copy online sent me scrambling. Alas, AddAll reveals no further copies for sale. Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6747768554703669866.post-87457937534445997782013-05-26T16:25:40.536-04:002013-05-26T16:25:40.536-04:00I still live in Vars where I grew up and where Mr....I still live in Vars where I grew up and where Mr. Parmelee got caught at the train station. In fact I now live in the old village bank, formerly the Traders Bank of Canada and consecutively the Royal Bank of Canada - Vars Branch. I found my own copy of this fascinating character's book from a used book store online within days after hearing about his story from a neighbour... Thanks for posting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com