Lecture Series – The Life & Times of the 4th Bonanza King, William O’Brien

Have you ever wondered about the fourth Comstock King? You’ve heard of Mackay, Fair, and Flood, but what of O’Brien – the one they called The Jolly Millionaire? Come and learn about his life, his generosity and his congenial nature; learn about the social scandals that surrounded him, and how he was duped by a pair of identity thieves.  This story has waited 150 years to be told, and you will be among the first to hear it. See copies of historical documents and decide for yourself what kind of man William Shoney O’Brien was, and whether or not his death came at the hands of unscrupulous people.

Brenda Findley is a retired university administrator who has taken up writing fact-based books as an all-consuming hobby. She holds a doctorate in Education and writes to entertain her readers while also providing carefully researched information. Her current project is a book tentatively called Fortune and Folly: The Life, Death and Exploitation of Comstock Bonanza King, William Shoney O’Brien, which examines the circumstances of O’Brien’s life, and makes a case that his death was not due to natural causes, as it was reported at the time.