Former Nebraska bank robber turned law student to speak at Omaha Public Library

Shon Hopwood, author of “Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption,” will speak at three Omaha Public Library events: 

• Monday, August 13, noon, at W. Dale Clark Main Library, 215 S. 15th St. 
• Monday, August 13, 6 p.m., at Millard Branch, 13214 Westwood Ln.
• Wednesday, August 15, noon, at Charles B. Washington Branch, 2868 Ames Ave. 

All events are free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. Participants will have the opportunity to meet the author, purchase his book and have it signed.

Growing up in a small town in Nebraska, Shon Hopwood was a good kid from a good family, a burgeoning basketball star whose parents started a local church. But, when the cheers faded and his attempts at college and military service didn’t pan out, he felt trapped in a life of everyday sameness. When his equally adrift best friend suggested robbing a bank, it seemed like a way to relieve the boredom and make something happen. Hopwood proceeded to commit five robberies before he was caught and sentenced to a dozen years in federal prison. At 23, he feared his life was over. 

Instead of a dead end, Hopwood discovered new beginnings. By the time he walked out of prison he’d pulled off a series of legal miracles, earned the undying gratitude of numerous inmates, won the woman of his dreams, and built a new life for himself far greater than anything he could have imagined. Hopwood’s improbable-but-true memoir recounts his unprecedented accomplishments in petitioning the Supreme Court that paved the way for a promising legal career. He now attends the University of Washington School of Law and lives in Seattle with his wife Annie and their two children. 

Visit omahalibrary.org for information about additional programs offered at Omaha Public Library’s 12 metro locations.