A Bar in Toledo: The Untold Story of a Mafia Frontman and a Grammy-winning Song

Written by Stephanie Abbajay and Dominic Vaiana

Narrated by Stephanie Abbajay

When Duane Abbajay took over his brother’s bankrupt nightclub in Toledo, Ohio in 1962, he promised his wife it would be a quick turnaround to bail his brother out and clear the family name. Instead, he became the face of a bar that transformed the city’s entertainment scene and inspired a Grammy-winning country song—all under the thumb of a trigger-happy mafia boss.

Informed by interviews with crime historians, employees, and patrons and corroborated by FBI and police reports, Dominic Vaiana and Stephanie Abbajay have crafted a Rust Belt psychodrama that offers a unique perspective into the worlds of organized crime and the music business, which were closely entwined.

Duane Abbajay, the 10th child of Syrian immigrants, went from having a Norman Rockwell-like all-American family life to owning and operating the most successful nightclub outside of Detroit and Chicago, all with the help of the mob, a secret he kept from his family.

A Bar in Toledo is a story of rock and roll, the Rust Belt, and redemption. It’s a story of the American Dream and the cost of success. Of a man who wanted it all, got it all, and the high price he paid to keep it.

Emotional, theatrical, and dripping with nostalgia, A Bar in Toledo is a love letter to the golden age of American music—and the dark underworld that helped make it all possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The University of Toledo Press
• Release date: Mar 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798868706004