Donald Joel Aronow
American designer, builder and racer of the famous Magnum Marine (Luxury yachts) and Cigarette racing boats.
He built speedboats for George H. W. Bush (S&B 1948), Shah of Iran, Charles Keating, Robert Vesco, Malcolm Forbes. Retired Lyndon Johnson owned several 16ft. Donzi speedboats on his Texas ranch with which he would race his Secret Service agents.
The great speed of Cigarette boats also made them a popular choice among cocaine runners.
NY Times … The Smoking Boat by John Katzenbach
They suggest [Arnow] he was killed because he was going to tell a Federal grand jury about his involvement in narcotics smuggling, and they argue that the man currently accused of the murder, Robert S. Young, “on the record as a murderer … [ and ] drug smuggler,” is merely a convenient fall guy. The real killers, the authors believe, are a pair of Chicago-based mob associates. But these are only some of the startling allegations contained in this book.[2]
The book title [The Smoking Boat] comes from the name of the high-powered speedboats that the Government contracted with Aronow to build. (He obtained this contract, the authors say, through the auspices of his friend Mr. Bush.) The Blue Thunder boats were supposed to be fast enough to catch drug smugglers off the coast of south Florida. Unfortunately, they have become something of a local joke in the Miami area. They spend a great deal more time being repaired than chasing drug dealers around the high seas.[2]
Died 3 Feb 1987, shot in his car. Age 59.
[1] - FYI - Wiki - Donald Aronow
[4] - Find a Grave - Donald Joel Aronow
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