Hard Time - by Charlie Hopkins (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

HARD TIME: THE LIFE OF AN INCORRIGIBLE ON ALCATRAZ
The true story of Charlie Hopkins #1186 one of the last surviving inmates of Alcatraz Penitentiary.

"My friend and fellow alumni Charlie Hopkins and I both graduated from America's Top Crime School- Charlie was a better student than I- He's still free!" -James "Whitey" Bulger, #1428 AZ


What if one could travel back in time and interview one of the 1500 or so hardened criminals that had served time at Alcatraz Penitentiary before it was permanently closed in 1963? Even if one could do such an impossible thing, what exactly would one ask a man who had rubbed shoulders with some of the most notorious gangsters, murderers, and thieves of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s? How would the conversation go when speaking to a close friend of "Creepy" Al Karpis, the "Birdman of Alcatraz" Robert Stroud, and Whitey Bulger. Now, thanks to author Don DeNevi, for the first time one does not need a time machine to recapture the first hand eyewitness accounts of one man's life on Alcatraz. Alcatraz inmate #1186 was Charles Edward Hopkins and Mr. Hopkins was no ordinary inmate. Not only did he serve time with the Anglin brothers who made the only successful escape from Alcatraz but he was well acquainted with notorious crime boss "Bumpy" Johnson and the legendary Italian mafia boss Vito Genevese and many other infamous Alcatraz inmates. Early in his prison career Charlie was clinically pronounced "psychotic" and "incorrigible" and was sent to Alcatraz. After serving his time, Hopkins disappeared into history before re-emerging in recent years as the pen pal of notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger. Never before has Charlie's full story been captured and shared with the public. This is his true story as told in 1999 to author Don DeNevi and recently reviewed by him to ensure maximum historical accuracy. Mr. Hopkins is still alive and is approaching 88 years old and is estimated to be one of the last 5 or 6 remaining inmates that served Hard Time in Alcatraz before its closing in 1963. No matter what you have read or think you know about Alcatraz, you may be certain of one thing, you have never heard a story like this.

Review Quotes

"The whirlpool of crime, brutality and redemption, is no mere jail tale. Hopkins memoir testifies to empowerment borne of prison dead-time and despair. This stret-smart narrative never descends to the pulpit of self-righteousness. it's plain talk from the hardened sage- Philosophy of society's outcasts in the
conformist 1950s. From adolescence as a juvenile delinquent on a Florida chain gang- to his stretch on Alcatraz and Leavenworth Federal Pen- Hopkins never lost his dignity. As told to author Don DeNevi with enough anecdotes to tantalize the true-cime enthusiast, Hopkins relives his years on Alcatraz. "Charlie" met Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, Elsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, and the Anglin Brothres. He tells his story from the D Block, the Hole and the Yard- and leaves us wondering how we ever believed anyone else."
-Ellen Poulson, Author, Don't Call US Molls: Women of the John Dillinger Gang