Bulger Biographer: 'Whitey Was An Experienced On-The-Road Gangster'

On Thursday, WBUR Morning Edition host Bob Oakes spoke with Dick Lehr, a former Boston Globe reporter who co-authored the book, "Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the FBI, and a Devil's Deal," about the life of James "Whitey" Bulger and his FBI ties.

Lehr called called Bulger an extremely disciplined crime boss.

"He wasn't a neighborhood gangster, from Chicago or Detroit or anywhere else, who once he left the street corner was lost at sea," Lehr said. "He was an experienced on-the-road gangster."

Bulger's discipline and experience helped him stay on the run for 16 years, Lehr explained.

"I think he was extremely low key, he had to be to have survived this long."