Book Discussion with Richard Muti

Author Richard Muti, former mayor of
Ramsey, wrote and published his book, titled Essays for my Father: A legacy
of passion, politics, and patriotism in small-town America, to mark the
100th anniversary of his father's birth. The elder Muti, a lifelong resident of
Ramsey as well as a local business and political leader, instilled in his son a
love of history, politics, and public policy. Essays for my Father is a
collection of essays about politics, unnecessary wars and wrong-headed
government, rare displays of political courage, not-so-rare displays of
political cowardice, an Italian-American heritage shared by 17 million
Americans, public employee unions, and other public policy issues that
challenge state and federal government.

Richard Muti's previous book, The
Charmer: The True Story of Robert Reldan—Rapist, Murderer, and Millionaire—and
the Women who Fell Victim to his Allure, co-authored with Charles Buckley,
drew heavily on both authors' experience as career prosecutors. Available in
both print and eBook editions, The Charmer was an Award Finalist in the
2012 USA Book News Best Book competition and is in its second printing. Vincent
Bugliosi, Charles Manson prosecutor and author of Helter Skelter, called
The Charmer "one of the best, in-depth examinations of the criminal
mind I have read in a long time."

Like his father, Richard Muti is a product
of Ramsey public schools. He would later graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy
and serve five years as a Navy pilot in the late 1960s. He left the Navy to
accept a fellowship at Harvard Business School and obtained an M.B.A. degree in
1971. Five years later, he began attending Rutgers Law School four nights a week,
while working in the real estate business. Upon getting his law degree in 1980,
Muti was appointed an assistant prosecutor in the Bergen County Prosecutor's
Office. He spent 19 years as a successful trial prosecutor, handling more than
2,000 cases and achieving a 99 percent conviction rate.

In 2000, Richard Muti retired from the
practice of law and began teaching part-time at three New Jersey colleges.
Elected mayor of Ramsey in 2002, Muti has been involved in politics, teaching,
and writing ever since. After his Op-Ed pieces on public policy and the
American cultural scene were accepted by The New York Times, The
Record, and other media, Muti published his first book in 2008. The author
lives in Ramsey with his wife Lorraine and their golden retriever, Miss
Moneypenny. For more information about the author, his books and other
writings, including blogs on national, state, and local issues, and a complete
schedule of speaking engagements, visit his website:

www.richardmuti.com