The Camden Public Library plans to host authors Amy Banks, left, and Isaac Knapper, for an online discussion about the book they co-wrote, “Fighting Time,” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3. Submitted photo
The Camden Public Library plans to host authors Isaac Knapper and Amy Banks for an online discussion about the book they co-wrote, “Fighting Time,” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3.
The book outlines the true story of Knapper’s wrongful imprisonment for the murder of University of Maine Professor Roland F. Banks, which has a Camden connection.
Submitted photo
The Maine Collection at the Camden library is dedicated to Banks’ memory; the plaque commemorating his life reads, “Maine was his state; Camden was his town.” The book describes the shared path that Knapper and Amy Banks are on today, according to a news release from the library.
On April 12, 1979, Roland Banks, author of “Maine Becomes a State: The Movement to Separate Maine from Massachusetts,” was shot and killed outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was 45 at the time.
Sixteen-year-old Isaac Knapper was arrested, tried as an adult, and wrongly convicted of the murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola.
In 1992, Knapper’s conviction was overturned, and in 2015 he met Banks’s daughter, Amy. It was an emotional meeting, and in the years since Knapper and Amy Banks have maintained a strong friendship and healing connection, and have worked to educate people about the impact that wrongful convictions can have on both the wrongfully convicted and the family of murdered victims.
Amy Banks, MD, a Harvard trained psychiatrist and founding scholar of the International Center for Growth in Connection, is the author of “Wired to Connect: The Surprising Link Between Brain Science and Strong, Healthy Relationships.”
Knapper, head trainer of the Crescent City Boxing Gym in New Orleans, is passionate about helping youths avoid the trauma he experienced in the justice system that wrongfully convicted him of murder.
To register to attend this free talk on Zoom, visit the What’s Happening adult events calendar at librarycamden.org.
The plaque at the Camden Public Library dedicated to Professor Roland F. Banks. Submitted photo
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