Nicholas Walker (born April 19, 1985) is an American author and
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
veteran who served time in prison for bank robbery.
His semi-autobiographical debut novel, ''
Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
'', was published by
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
on August 14, 2018.
Career
From 2005 to 2006, Walker served as an Army
medic
A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder.
Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgradu ...
in an
Infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
unit in Iraq,
going on more than 250 combat missions. After returning to civilian life, he had undiagnosed
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...
, was depressed and traumatized, and became addicted to heroin and
Oxycodone
Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...
. Matthew Johnson, a publisher at
Tyrant Books
Tyrant Books is an independent book publisher based in Rome, Italy and New York, New York. It was created in 2009 by Giancarlo DiTrapano as an offshoot of ''New York Tyrant Magazine'', which was also founded by DiTrapano, in 2006.
History
Tyr ...
,sent Walker books and encouraged him to write about his life while Walker was in prison. He spent nearly four years writing and rewriting.
The resulting novel, ''
Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
'', was published by
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
and is about "the horrors of war and addiction."
In the semi-autobiographical novel, a young man drops out of college and enlists in the Army. He comes home in a poor state, becomes addicted to opiates, and starts robbing banks.
According to
Vulture.com, upon its publication the book received "near-universal praise." It debuted at number 14 on ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller list. Walker has said that he is using money from sales of the book to pay back some of the banks he robbed.
The book was shortlisted for the
2019 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. In Walker's acknowledgements in ''
Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
,''he also credits Josh Polikov, Tim O'Connell, Adeline Manson, Anna Kaufman, Daniel Novack, Susan M. S. Brown for helping him write, edit, revise, and publish his semi-autobiographical novel.
Within days of the book's publication, the
movie rights were acquired for $1 million by
Joe and Anthony Russo
Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (), are American directors, producers, and screenwriters. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for dir ...
's studio AGBO, with the brothers planning to direct and produce, and the script to be written by
Jessica Goldberg
Jessica Goldberg (born 1975) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and television writer. In 1999, she won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her play, '' Refuge''. Goldberg is the creator of the Hulu series '' The Path'' and served as the ...
and starring
Tom Holland
Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, three Saturn Awards, a Guinness World Record and an appearance on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list. Some publications h ...
as the character based on Walker. Walker was offered the opportunity to be an executive producer on the film, but he turned it down.
The film, also called ''
Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
'', was released in theaters on February 26, 2021, and on
Apple TV+
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...
on March 12, 2021.
Incarceration
To fund his opiate habit, he robbed ten banks around
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
in a span of four months, beginning in December 2010. He was arrested in April 2011, pleaded guilty in 2012 and was given an eleven-year sentence. His cell mate was Tony Viola, who was wrongfully accused of mortgage fraud at several banks and was sentenced to twelve and a half years in prison. In 2013, while Walker was behind bars in the
Federal Correctional Institution
The Federal Bureau of Prisons classifies prisons into seven categories:
* United States penitentiaries
* Federal correctional institutions
* Private correctional institutions
* Federal prison camps
* Administrative facilities
* Federal correctio ...
in
Ashland, Kentucky
Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...
, he was profiled in
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
. This led to a correspondence with Matthew Johnson, a publisher at the independent press
Tyrant Books
Tyrant Books is an independent book publisher based in Rome, Italy and New York, New York. It was created in 2009 by Giancarlo DiTrapano as an offshoot of ''New York Tyrant Magazine'', which was also founded by DiTrapano, in 2006.
History
Tyr ...
. While incarcerated, Walker was also a GED tutor, teaching fellow inmates.
Personal life
Walker grew up in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Cleveland. He dropped out of
John Carroll University
John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...
and enlisted in the Army at the age of 19. For his service in Iraq, Walker received seven medals and commendations. He was released from prison early, in October 2019.
He lives in
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...
.
Walker and his first wife, Kara, eloped before he deployed in 2005, and divorced a few months after he returned in 2006. Around this time, he was the lead singer and songwriter in a psychedelic garage rock band named Safari, and they released the album ''Maybe Tomorrow'' in 2010. In August 2020, ''
Interview
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
'' reported Walker had married poet Rachel Rabbit White.
As of January 2022, Walker is currently working on his second novel, which will have a focus centralized around
incarceration
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
.
Bibliography
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Nico
1985 births
21st-century American novelists
American bank robbers
American male novelists
American prisoners and detainees
Place of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Novelists from Ohio
People with post-traumatic stress disorder
United States Army soldiers
Writers from Cleveland
American people convicted of robbery
21st-century American male writers