Fatman Dies, Legend Lives

Edmund H. Mahony: Daniel Tedesco, a big-hearted bookie and the last stand-up guy in Hartford, died this week of old age and its myriad afflictions. He was 84.

Tedesco was a big figure in the city's North End for half a century, even if he now seems to have been a figure from another era and a city that no longer exists. Known in certain circles as "The Fatman," he ran a penny-ante numbers racket from his office, a candy store called Tunnel Variety on Main Street.

The Fatman's book was the lottery for the down-and-outers who used to stumble blindly around the neighborhood, almost always winding up on his doorstep. If you couldn't afford a buck to play the state's lottery, you could cash in a couple of cans and risk a dime on Tedesco's.

Tedesco knew lotteries. He is the only person believed to have rigged the state lottery, a feat that occurred decades ago, shortly after the legislature approved legalized gambling.