Corowa’s Peter Norris’ memoir is a best-seller, before it’s officially launched.
Many readers know Peter Norris as the CEO of Club Corowa, but not as the son of one of Australia’s most wanted criminals and a former ward of the state.
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In a remarkable true-crime memoir, The Bank Robber's Boy, Peter shares the story of his childhood.
This week the book reached best-seller status, selling 5,000 copies, two days before it was officially launched.
With no writing experience, and the help of a mentor and editor, Peter wrote his story over two years, three to four hundred words a night.
He’s been “completely overwhelmed” by the response, especially after being told his book will be displayed front-of-store in WH Smith and on billboards around airports.
“It’s amazing, we had 7,000 copies printed but we’ve already gone to reprint to make 14,000 copies,” Peter said.
“I have had numerous requests for interviews and even to make the book into a script.”
Last weekend Peter was keynote speaker at Club’s NSW Regional Conference at Yarrawonga-Mulwala Golf Club.
Club Corowa CEO, Peter Norris
The chief executive of Club Corowa, a multimillion-dollar-venue that employs more than 100 staff, Peter is also a world-class athlete with a bronze medal in the Obstacle Racing World Championships and two national body building titles.
He also provides a safe, secure home for vulnerable children as a dedicated foster carer, and coaches the Roos under 12s girls football team.
His journey spans far beyond the boardroom and is living proof that one man can change his destiny and make a difference, not despite the odds but because of them.
Peter’s father, Clarence ‘Clarry’ Norris, was a bank robber who outfoxed the law for two decades.
From Sydney’s sun-drenched harbour to Melbourne’s shadowy streets, he pocketed millions between 1965 and 1985, leaving chaos in his wake.
Clarry wasn’t just notorious for his robberies, he was legendary for his escapes; one of the first to bust out of Sydney’s Long Bay Jail, he turned dodging the police into a specialty.
For years, Peter and his siblings were unwitting accomplices, dragged along in the cross-country crime spree.
Clarry Norris with three of his four children, Tina, Kelly and Peter.
Peter was the youngest of four and struggled to make sense of his home environment where terrifying people and events were normal.
The Bank Robber’s Boy illustrates the long journey to break free from his father’s criminal shadow, while also coming to terms with the love and loyalty he felt, from and for his dad.
“He was once Australia’s Most Wanted,” Peter said.
“There’s no escaping that, but that’s also the same man who showed me what it means to love and be loved, no matter what.”
When foster care couldn’t be found, Peter was separated from his siblings and sent to Baltara Reception Centre in Melbourne, a specialised facility and remand centre for boys aged 10 to 15.
There he suffered abuse as a state ward of Victoria, a case he Peter recently settled.
Throughout it all, Peter’s father would appear to take him on the run again until one day he said, “No, Dad. No more adventures. I'm sorry”.
Peter lived with the Dullards, the foster family who supported him through school.
He graduated from La Trobe University with a degree in tourism and hospitality and today runs Corowa’s multimillion-dollar venue, and fosters children himself.
“I didn’t write this story to glorify Dad or his crimes. This is me saying ‘I’m more than what I was back then. I’m more than the Bank Robber’s Boy’,” he said.
The Bank Robber’s Boy is published by Big Sky Publishing and available at BIG W, Dymocks, QBD, Collins Booksellers and Amazon online.
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