About the Book, Telluride Promise

C.C. Wain, a small town banker, saves his depositors from losing their money in the banking failures of the Great Depression. He tells his story in the simple language of a modest man who never views himself the way his world did — as a depression-era Robin Hood. This fictionalized account of actual events takes us through his intricate manipulations to “borrow” the money, the hillarious nationwide manhunt leading to a chance apprehension, and the dedicated prosecution he suffered, ultimately for a crime he didn’t actually commit. Released from prison three months before FDR signed into law the very act for which he had been jailed. C.C. lives life in obscurity long enough to see all his debts repaid. Along the way, readers will glimpse how the blind self-interest of bankers and prosecutors justifies any loss suffered by others at their hand.

Telluride Promise is as relevant now, eighty years later, as it was in the time of C.C. Wain. We face once again a crisis of crushing despair that sadly needs simple men to stand up for the promise they gave to people who trusted them. We need C.C. Wain more than ever. He lives with us in his words and in this book.