The last Public Enemy No. 1 of the Depression era, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis reportedly compiled a record of fifty-four aliases, fifteen bank robberies, fourteen murders, three jailbreaks and two kidnappings. His criminal career came to an end when J. Edgar Hoover and his famed G-Men apprehended the man they wanted more than any other in New Orleans. From there, Karpis found himself confined on Alcatraz Island, where he spent nearly twenty-six years - more than any inmate in the prison’s history. Historian Julie Thompson tells the true story of Karpis’s life and career, a riveting tale taking readers from rural Kansas and Ohio to the bustling streets of the Big Easy and into the bleak innards of “the Rock.”

A lifelong native of Northeast Ohio, historian Julie Thompson completed her history degree at Hiram College, where she graduated with distinction. She has volunteered at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and worked extensively with the Library of Congress Publishing Office on four of its substantial published works. Julie remains an active member of the Freedom Township Historical Society and has served on the board of trustees for the James A. Garfield Historical Society, where she engaged with Hiram College to develop the society’s first internship program and served as a member of her area’s Inter-Museum Council.

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