Johnny's Girl: A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up In Alaska's Underworld

by Kim Rich

Johnny’s Girl the nationally acclaimed memoir of growing up in Alaska’s underworld as the only child of gambler John F. “Johnny” Rich and exotic dancer, Frances “Ginger” Rich. It chronicles Alaska’s mean streets and her parent’s tragic lives that were cut short. 

Kim Rich was an ordinary girl trapped in an extraordinary childhood, someone who dreamed of going to parties and getting good grades while living in an after-hours hell of gamblers, pimps, and con men. She longed for normalcy, yet she was inescapably her father's child, and she had no choice but to grow up fast. Her mother, who suffered from mental illness, was a stripper and B-girl: her father was a major player in the underworld of Anchorage, Alaska in the sixties, a city flush with newfound oil money.  
Only after her father was gruesomely murdered when she was 15, and Kim became a journalist, was she able to fill in the missing pieces of one American dream gone horribly wrong. Kim's true story is a tale of a woman's search for her parent's secrets. What she finds is both shocking and tragic, but in the end she's able to discover her true self amid the remnants of her parents' lost lives.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Book Club, Biography Memoir

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[RB Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started out interesting and then along about Chapter 11 it became un-put-downable. The story is the non-fiction account of a young girl with wild, itinerant, outlaw parents who wind up in Anchorage, Alaska both because they believed there was opportunity for them and because they'd conceivably run out of road. Mom's schizophrenia gets the better of her after Dad's hustles eventually spiral down to him pimping her out on occasion. Mom gets shipped back to a Michigan insane asylum and after a brief stay in Michigan herself, our narrator/author, Kim Rich, is reunited with her father in Anchorage and her strange life continues. Johnny Rich, Kim's dad runs gambling rooms, prostitutes and any other corner he can cut to make a buck even in his temporarily legit business fronts. Eventually, Johnny Rich makes good as an underworld figure through massage parlors but his arrival at relative success brushes with a set of terminally bad characters that lead the reader through the last 100 pages or so of this tome at breakneck, true crime speed.
Kim Rich is a good writer. Not surprisingly though, this may have taken it all out of her. She sets up this narrative tenderly and informatively, relating great details about how Anchorage was and what it was like to come up there through the '60's and 70's and then BAM! the thing turns into a true crime novel that hits and sickens like a James Elroy piece. Her descriptions of her father, his hustling, bargain-hunting, jailhouse lawyering and his dogs-playing-poker, Cadillac, dark blue topaz cuff link style - are terrific. Her research, interviews and remembrances mesh her scattered jigsaw puzzle of a family together into a cohesive photo. The more I think about this book, the more admirable and unique a piece of work I think it becomes.
I'm reaching back up to the top of this review and changing it from three stars to four.

[Alan Barta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book chronicled the life of the author growing up in Anchorage, AK, where her father was involved with gambling and prostitution enterprises. I grew up in Anchorage at the same time that the author did (she is two years older than me) and though I did not know her I started reading the book because I looked forward to hearing my home town described during the time I was growing up. I was not disappointed. I was impressed with the amount of research that the author did into the lives of her parents. Her mother was mentally ill and it was very interesting to learn of the treatment for mental illness in the 1950s and 1960s. Psychiatry has come a long way since then. I recommend this book to all.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did this little girl who lived through a disorganized, dangerous, and tragic childhood become such a great writer? She thoroughly chronicles life in Anchorage circa 1950 until 1974 and makes you feel like you actually knew all those shady characters that populated the town. And despite his character flaws, she loved her father.

[Elizabeth Stallings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ive read this book twice. Once years ago when I lived in Alaska and then again a few months ago. Both times I enjoyed this book a great deal. Basically this book is a true story of a young girl who goes to live with her mobster type father who runs illegal prostitution massage parlors and after hour gambling houses in 50s, 60s and early 70s in Anchorage, Alaska. Her mother is disabled by mental illness, so off she goes to Anchorage to raise herself surrounded by a colorful cast of underworld characters. Despite her fathers half hearted attempts to go legit the promise of the Alaska pipeline and all of that oil pipeline money sets a sinister undertone in the practically lawless last frontiers underworld that surround both her and her father.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very well-written book. The style is professional and easy to follow. It is full of emotional appeal and information. The cover entices readers to learn about the underworld in Alaska, such as it was. But the book is more focused on the author and growing up with an unconventional family.

The underworld aspect refers to her father's business in gambling, pornography, prostitution, and questionable businesses. This is not the story of the Mafia or Syndicate in Alaska. The author is clear that there never was such a thing. Instead of Italians in business suits with violin cases stuffed with machine guns, the closest the audience sees are some grizzled lumberjacks sporting rifles. I am sure they are just as intimidating. Nevertheless, the author does a great job describing the home life of such a character and how they barely made any profits as her father sought to keep things out of his name and to appear more successful than he actually was.

The book does a great job describing the B-girl racket, gambling cheats, and massage parlors; but most of the book is the story of a little girl tracing the genealogy of her unique family with its ups and downs. Dramatic, albeit the climax is something of a let down. The conspiracy responsible for the death of her husband is really the imagination of a petty criminal and a shady lawyer.

[Beth Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being an Anchorage resident, I really enjoyed reading this book and learning the history of what Anchorage was like in the 60's and 70's. I loved that the author mentioned one of my favorite restaurants that I currently go to regularly called LaCabana. I liked how the author went into detail about the 1964 earthquake. We had a big one in Anchorage 4 years ago so I could relate although it wasn't nearly as big.

I learned a lot about organized crime and how people make a quick buck off of others vices. I think Netflix or Hulu should pick this up and make a series because its gripping and historically acurate.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A daughters memoir of life growing up in a home with parents engaged in a life of petty crime and mental illness. She looks back with a clear-eyed view, interviews the people who knew her parents, and tries to understand the lives she shared. Her mother died after being hospitalized for her mental issues when Kim was a young girl. Her father was murdered when she was in her teens, but Kim survived tragedy, got an education, and has had a successful career as a journalist. A testament to her inner strength.

[Mary Atchison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to Alaska in 1950 as a 2 year old, growing up here in the early days of this book. Although I do not know Kim, I enjoyed her account of life in the 60s and 70s in Anchorage. I admire her for her fighting spirit and determination to grow up in Extremely harsh conditions. Good job on detailing you life so well, Kim. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Lily M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book while I was visiting Anchorage because I wanted to learn about its history, or should I say, its story. _Johnny's Girl_ achieves this goal, presenting the underground life of Anchorage through the eyes of a girl growing up in the middle of it. The story is engaging, but at times hard to follow due to the large number of people that appear and disappear intermittently.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it takes place in Alaska. The book was good, but not nearly as interesting as I thought it would be. Being about the underworld, I thought it should be a crazy true life story (similar to Running with Scissors or The Glass Castle), but it was not.

[Vivienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alaskan journalist Kim Rich tells the story of her infamous parents and her very unconventional childhood. The author's profession has a big impact on the style of the book - very factual and unemotional where most memoirs of similar events wouldn't be so poised.

[Olgalijo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly an insightful memoir of a very difficult childhood and youth. This is reinforced by what seems to be a very strong investigative work to cover parts of the story that the author herself didn't know first hand.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up in Anchorage and I never knew about the dark side of the city like this. I thank Kim for sharing her story and I am glad that Kim got through this - it shows that kids can be resilient.

[Kathy Geiges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional research!

[Anabelle Valladares · Rating 3 out of 5]

daughter to misfit outlaws, kim recounts, investigates, and describes her childhood, the life of her parents, and alaska in the 60s. story drags out a bit towards the end, but Rich's writing is brilliant. overall a pretty introspective and interesting read.

begins with : '“You raise them just so they can grow up to hate you.” That wasn't true; I loved my father, but for a long time, there just hadn't been much about him I liked.” — ends with : “I have never stopped loving my father; now I'm beginning to like Johnny Rich”.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of the author’s unconventional childhood. I enjoyed the first person detail, and the surrounding history and description of Anchorage that enriched the memories. The details and names got a bit too thick to follow through the description of the plot of her father’s murder but the book was summed up in the most touching way which redeemed the entire book for me. Great reading for history, partially Alaskan history, and biography enthusiasts.

[Mike Sigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look into a young girl’s experience growing up with parents who were criminals. She describes both the good and bad in her parents.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read for anyone interested in what anchorage felt like in the 1960s.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting only because of learning Alaska’s history.

[Susan Carvalho · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** Audible Review ***This book was well written, but I lost interest in the later chapters, when the author is detailing how her father was killed. Somehow, with all the detailed accounts from confessions to court documents to re-enactments, I lost interest in the day of Johnny’s murder. Surprising, but true. But, the murder wasn’t really what this book is about. It’s the story of a young girl who raises herself after being born to a mother suffering from schizophrenia (and the after effects of her treatments) and a father who loved living on the edge. Kim Rich is a survivor to say the least! I was surprised to discover that her mother and father had ties to CT. As her grandfather mentions, they would have lived a different life if only they had stayed in CT with a steady job in car sales. But, then Kim would not have had the same story to tell…

[Gjanderson61 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about a daughter of a major player in the underworld of Anchorage. Who knew? I worked with the daughter of the girl in the story, so it hit close to home with me. I cannot imagine growing up like this.

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir was written by a friend of my mom's, who remembers going over to Kim Rich's house and witnessing some of the goings on. I read it a long time ago, but I remember it was a very interesting read.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Low three stars, but an easy read.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting memoir.

[Merilyn Calcutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, giving an insight into Alaska in the 60s and 70s

[Elizabeth]

What a way to grow up.