Bluegrass Sons is the story of a Kentucky family who through politics and providence, the CIA and a pack of Vegas mobsters, became key figures on both sides of America's "War on Drugs."
The time and place traverse the years I bore witness to the raunchy, colorful debauchery that was Las Vegas in the 1970s. Key players are my father, Vice President of Caesar's Palace, Dan Chandler, son of Kentucky governor and Major League Baseball Commissioner, A.B. "Happy" Chandler, Uncle Bradley Bryant, former marine turned CIA strong man and drug smuggler for Jimmy Chagra, the largest marijuana trafficker America had seen to date. Jimmy Chagra was responsible for ordering the assassination of Texas Federal Judge, John Wood. Charles Harrelson, Woody's dad, was the hitman. Jimmy was the brother of my father's close friend, Lee Chagra, a handsome criminal defense attorney and professional gambler who was tragically murdered sitting at his desk in El Paso. Another imperative figure is Brad's childhood friend and business partner, Andrew Thornton, who ushered him into the Central Intelligence Agency. Drew was an expert paratrooper turned cop, turned lawyer, turned drug trafficker, who met his end when he jumped from a private plane above Knoxville, Tennessee. Attached to his body along with the faulty parachute were knives, guns and a duffel bag holding forty kilos of cocaine.
Dan Chandler, Brad Bryant, Drew Thornton, Lee Chagra and Jimmy Chagra moved seamlessly between Philadelphia, El Paso, Vegas and Kentucky, Savannah, Columbia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Fortunes were made and careers were crushed, people went to prison and others died mysterious deaths. When I decided to uncover our complicated family dynamic which set these events in motion, my upbringing proved more precarious than I dreamed. I discovered Uncle Brad was instructed by the CIA to gather information about the Chagra brothers by way of my father. When Daddy and Uncle Brad's unconventional lifestyles intersected none of us would ever be the same.
Chandler, Erin: - Erin Chandler received an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University and Masters in Theatre from the University of Kentucky. She is the author of two previous books and several plays. Chandler's play, June Bug Versus Hurricane was produced at the Lost Studio in Hollywood during her twenty-two years spent in Los Angeles working as an actress in theatre, film and television as well as producing plays and independent film. The memoir of the same name was published in 2017 and her collection of essays, Cinderella Sweeping Up, came in 2019. Erin is the founder and editor of Rabbit House Press, a small publishing company based in Versailles, Kentucky. She currently teaches memoir and playwrighting privately and for the Carnegie Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Erinchandlerauthor.com, Rabbithousepress.com, Bluegrasssonsfilm.com, YouTube Rabbit House Press for interviews, and videos.
