Luellen Smiley is a creative nonfiction writer, author, columnist, and historian whose writing is deeply rooted in a controversial personal history. She is the daughter of Allen Smiley, a close friend, associate, and business partner of notorious Las Vegas gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. Her father was sitting only feet from Siegel when Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills on June 20, 1947.
That extraordinary childhood history became the foundation for Smiley’s first book, Cradle of Crime: A Daughter’s Tribute, published in 2017. The memoir explores what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a man connected to organized crime while trying to reconcile her love for her father with the secrecy, fear, and criminal world surrounding him.
Smiley’s work has appeared in publications including the New York Post, MORE Magazine, Southern California newspapers, and Authorlink. She wrote the newspaper column Smiley’s Dice—Adventures in Livingness, which earned a Blue-Ribbon Award from the California Newspapers Association for her Growing Up With Gangsters columns.
Her interest in her father’s history also led her to become a researcher and commentator on organized crime history. She has participated in television, radio, and documentary interviews.
Smiley’s next book, Gaslighting Greta, will be published this year. A personal story that reads like fiction. Her own website describes the project as exploring a woman whose life is destabilized by gaslighting and psychological manipulation.
Her writing career reflects a recurring theme: using personal experience and research to uncover the truth behind complicated relationships and extraordinary lives. From the secretive world surrounding her father and Bugsy Siegel to the deeply personal territory of Gaslighting Greta, Smiley’s work transforms difficult experiences into stories of survival, discovery, and ultimately reclaiming one’s voice.
Luellen Smiley is an author whose life has given her an unusual perspective on secrecy, manipulation, family loyalty, betrayal, and survival—and she uses that perspective as the raw material for her nonfiction storytelling.
Excerpt from soon to be finished book, Smiley’s Dice
THE SNOW SEDATED the choppy feeling in my stomach, the conjecture of discovering why my father was wired with anxiety. His whole life was a chase scene: arrest him, convict him, send him to Russia, and never pull the tap from his apartment, or the FBI guys from his tail.
Me, Diane Friedman and Cindy Frisch.
Now there is a wash over my interpretation of his obsessive, protective, paranoia, distrust, and interrogation of my friends. I wonder if those gals I grew up with knew about Dad from their parents’. I relied heavily on the open arms of my friend’s families. They’re remembered more than my teachers: The Blair’s, Bourne’s, Both Friedman’s, Frisch’s, Hoffman’s, Pindler’s, Saunders, Schwadel’s, Taubman’s, and the Tefkin’s. Hope I didn’t leave anyone out. I left out the Berman’s andthe Crosby’s.
5 responses to “Excerpt from soon to be finished book, Smiley’s Dice”
please say who these lovely ladies were exactly in your lifeWhen and where was this pic taken???….did they have “Dad’s “too??? From: ODYSSEY OF LOVE– STEP BEHIND MY SCREEN OF STORIES. THE inner voice where gaps of expression are liberated. To: blairsabol@yahoo.com Sent: Friday, December 4, 2015 10:24 AM Subject: [New post] Excerpt from soon to be finished book, Smiley’s Dice #yiv0724823267 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv0724823267 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:link, #yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv0724823267 WordPress.com | LouLou posted: “THE SNOW SEDATED the choppy feeling in my stomach, the conjecture of discovering why my father was wired with anxiety. His whole life was a chase scene: arrest him, convict him, send him to Russia, and never pull the tap from his apartment, or the FBI gu” | |
5 responses to “Excerpt from soon to be finished book, Smiley’s Dice”
please say who these lovely ladies were exactly in your lifeWhen and where was this pic taken???….did they have “Dad’s “too??? From: ODYSSEY OF LOVE– STEP BEHIND MY SCREEN OF STORIES. THE inner voice where gaps of expression are liberated. To: blairsabol@yahoo.com Sent: Friday, December 4, 2015 10:24 AM Subject: [New post] Excerpt from soon to be finished book, Smiley’s Dice #yiv0724823267 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv0724823267 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:link, #yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv0724823267 a.yiv0724823267primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv0724823267 WordPress.com | LouLou posted: “THE SNOW SEDATED the choppy feeling in my stomach, the conjecture of discovering why my father was wired with anxiety. His whole life was a chase scene: arrest him, convict him, send him to Russia, and never pull the tap from his apartment, or the FBI gu” | |
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They gals I wrote about. This photo is from a reunion we had in 2004 at Cindy’s home in Westwood.
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Wow! You brought back memories including the Frisch family. Hope all’s well. Steve
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Steve, I hope you’re managing Malibu all right. LOL. I ‘d love to have a two hour lunch next time I’m in LA. Keep in touch.
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We all need the outstretched hand and open arms at times. Good post.
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