“At a young age, I was suddenly around a seamy bunch of people — gangsters, fight promoters, champion boxers,” said Mr. Hasen, who then segued, as nearly every topic of conversation leads to a corresponding ribald tale, into how he lost his virginity at age 15 when Frankie Carbo, a gangster-promoter known as Mr. Gray, walked into a magazine office and noticed a young, pimply-faced Hasen.

Mr. Hasen said. “Mr. Gray gave my boss $20 and said, ‘Take the kid uptown,’ which meant, ‘Take him to a prostitute.’ ”

A story of how Irwin Hasen, who was 15 years old in 1933, lost his virginity.