Marvin Elkind aka The Weasel was a low-level mob functionary, a loan collector, a boxer and a long-time police informant. He was also Jimmy Hoffa's driver. It's a remarkable life, perhaps most remarkable for the fact that Elkind has somehow managed to survive it. Elkind's life story is the subject of a new book by National Post reporter Adrian Humphreys. We speak to both of them today.

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Part Three of The Current

The Weasel, Marvin Elkind shares his story in A Double Life in The Mob

We started this segment with a clip of Marlon Brando, unrepentant as Terry Malloy, the former boxer who informed against the mobsters running New York's port in the 1954 movie On The Waterfront. Part of that film could have been a documentary of the life of Marvin Elkind.

At one time, the chubby kid from Toronto worked for some of the biggest names in organized crime in Canada and the US. But then his life took a turn that might make an even better film than On the Waterfront. Marvin Elkind's life is chronicled in the new book, The Weasel: A Double Life in The Mob. Adrian Humphreys is the author and he was in Toronto this morning. And sitting next to him is Marvin "The Weasel" Elkind.

Related Links:

• The Weasel and Johnny Pops: a Hamilton mob story By: Susan Clairmont - Hamilton Spectator
• Mafia `weasel' Marvin Elkind lived his life wearing a wire By: Rene Bruemmer - Postmedia News

Last Word - Jimmy Hoffa

Now, we've been talking about Jimmy Hoffa, best known today for disappearing without a trace. But there was a time when Hoffa was best known as the ferocious leader of the Teamsters. In a 1960 television interview, Hoffa was asked whether he prefers money or power. He didn't answer directly, but the intensity of his answer gave the game away. Today's Last Word, goes to the coal miner's kid.

Other segments from today's show:

• Regulate Marijuana?
• After the DRC election ballots are counted