Paperchain Book Launch: How James Became King
Brian O'Malley

5pm, Thursday 14 March

Paperchain Bookstore
34 Franklin Street Manuka, Griffith, 2603 

‘King’ O’Malley is known to history as a ‘larrikin’ and maverick politician, member of the first Australian Federal Parliament and Federal Minister, whose political career spanned two decades. Arriving from America in the late 1880s he quickly drew attention through his public shenanigans; his theatrical storytelling, fashionable accoutrements, and ‘larger than life’ Yankee persona. However, his past remained shrouded in mystery. Yet, on the other side of the Pacific another mystery remained unresolved. Following the notorious 1882 New Haven, Connecticut, trial and acquittal of James Malley, main suspect in the death of Jennie Cramer, Malley disappears from official records in the north east United States, and the saga begins. This is the story of how James became ‘King’.

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Brian O'Malley is a retired Australian Federal public servant with experience in law enforcement functions and wide range of work and travel experience. He has won the ACT Marjorie Graber-McInnes short story competition and was short-listed in the Shoalhaven national short story competition. 

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