A question at a party in 2019 led Papillion attorney John Waters to write his first book.

John Waters wrote a novel based on his experiences as a Marine in a war zone. He’s now 27 years old with a wife and three kids, and he works as an attorney for Fiserv.

The gathering was a fundraiser for Opera Omaha at the home of a colleague. Waters, who wasn’t an opera fan, felt alone and out of his element. When he listened to a talk about the company’s next performance, that feeling got stronger.

Then a singer performed “Danny Boy,” a sad Irish ballad about a mom who watches her son march off to war. That struck a chord with Waters, who graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq as a Marine.

He stopped to talk to the singer on his way out of the party.

“I told her I had gone to war,” he said, and she responded with a question: “Do you think a soldier ever comes home from war?”

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It was an issue he’d never resolved, but one he wanted to contemplate. He had some questions of his own. And as he searched for answers, he was also developing a newfound interest in the arts.

“River Zone One,” by John Waters, is about a man’s return from war and his efforts to build a new life with a beautiful singer.

This month, his novel, “River City One,” was released by Permuted Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster. He had a launch party in Washington, D.C., hosted by his sister, Erin, the president and CEO of the Real Clear Politics website. He’s also had readings at Omaha’s Bookworm and in Iowa City.

“River City One” tells the story of John Walker, a lawyer and ex-Marine who has been on the edge since he came home from the war. He rages against people who don’t understand the terror he felt in combat and the guilt he still feels. Things turn around when he meets a beautiful singer, but his web of lies may destroy his renewed life.

Papillion resident John Waters, who wrote a novel using his experiences as a Marine as fodder, is congratulated by President Barack Obama at his graduation from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  

Waters, 37, has seen war, but he said the book is not autobiographical. After graduating from Annapolis, he became a lieutenant in the Marines and eventually was a ground intelligence officer in Afghanistan. He wasn’t in combat, but he did receive photographic proof that soldiers had captured and killed people he had located.

“Hemingway said to write what you know. I started with a place and people I know and feelings and memories I have,” Waters said. “What happens is not a memoir, (but) it is truthful to the experience of coming home. It is not about me. I wouldn’t force something on the world that was just about me.”

Once he decided to write the book, it took him only three months to complete the first draft, writing in pencil in a journal. He said he wanted it to be hard.

He worked surreptitiously in his basement. Only his wife and his mom knew about it. He said his dad, also named John, wasn’t pleased when he learned what was going on. Put it away, he told his son, and focus on your day job and your family.

The younger Waters soldiered on, writing the next draft in pen and typing the last one.

He prepared for the process by studying how various artists created. He also found a writing mentor and lived with him for six months.

And, he said, “I read everything I could. I was always a reader.”

His mom, Patricia Waters, edited the book before he sent it off to various agents and publishing companies. (She’s a former features editor at The World-Herald.) He said he contacted about 500 editors, writers and publishers before finding an agent in London.

He learned that to get ahead, writers also have to be marketers as well.

Papillion resident John Waters as a student at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. 

“The book was like my client,” he said. “It was hard, but I was a Marine and as a Marine I did hard things.”

He wrote his book, he said, because there was a lot he loved about his time in the corps. But like many soldiers, he felt somewhat lost when his military career ended in 2015.

“When I came home, I felt abandoned and alone. Writing was a comfort … I could be with old friends,” he said. “We come home and we’re feted as heroes but all we’re thinking about is what we didn’t do, where we fell short. I wanted to tell that story.”

The book has already received a couple of positive reviews, including this from Eugene Sledge Award-winning author Kacy Tellessen:

“John Waters renders real a fictional account of what it’s like to attempt to live an ordinary life after experiencing the extraordinary thumbprint of war. With rich prose and a touch of the surreal, Waters tells a story that will make you reflect on your own life, as all great stories do. ‘River City One’ is an utterly human story that demands to be read.”

Waters, who has three young children, said his wife has been very supportive throughout his journey. His seven-year-old son, Henry, has started writing books himself.

He frequently reads to Henry before bedtime.

“We came to the end of reading (one night) and we talked about his book, ‘Ben the Ant,’” Waters said. “And he says, ‘Someday I want to be like you.’”

Since he finished “River City One,” he said, he’s moved on from regular reflection about his military experiences and has found new interests. Writing it has helped him move on.

“It’s not so much in my head anymore,” he said.

He’ll continue to practice law; he now works as a corporate lawyer at Fiserv. But he also plans to continue writing. He has a contract for a nonfiction book, composes poetry and someday would like to produce a novel about love and romance.

“Writing, to me, is an impulse that I can’t do anything but indulge,” he said. “I have to do it.”

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of November 2023

Brothers Finn, 10, and Jaxson Mlynarik, 14, of Winterset, Iowa, stand together with a lit up snowflake during the Holiday Lights Festival lighting ceremony at The RiverFront Park in Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.

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Sandhills/Thedford’s Zeb Wilde (32) and Carson Cooksley (14) celebrate with fans Kaden Haake and Connor Cooksley following the Wynot vs. Sandhills/Thedford Nebraska Class D2 State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Sandhills/Thedford won the title 50-12.

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Creighton’s Trey Alexander (23) controls the ball in the Texas Southern vs. Creighton men’s college basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.

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Justin Holzepfel puts Christmas lights on his roof as his daughter, Madalyn, 5, watches on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Thomas Fidone II (24) huddles Wisconsin’s Jason Maitre (23) during the second half of a college football game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Chubba Purdy (12) scores on a 55-yard run on the first drive during the first half of a college football game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Harper Murray (27) goes up for the ball during the first set of a college volleyball match against Michigan at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023.

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Jaye’real Coppage 12, dibbles a basketball in the gym at the Salvation Army Omaha North Worship & Service Center located at 2424 Pratt St, on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Paint from the mural on the wall is peeling.

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Atlas Swan, 3, helps his mother, Eryn Swan’s plants on the porch of their Bemis Park home on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.

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Kids play basketball in the gym at the Salvation Army’s North Corps Community Center, 2424 Pratt St., on Nov. 9.

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North Dakota State’s Ryan Sletten (24) tries to stop a Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) dunk at CHI Health Center on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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Police escort a truck carrying the Durham Museum Christmas heads north on I480 toward Woolworth Avenue on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.

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Creighton’s Steven Ashworth (1) celebrates a three-point basket against North Dakota State at CHI Health Center on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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North Dakota State’s Ryan Sletten (24) tries to stop a Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) dunk at CHI Health Center on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Ty Robinson (9) walks off the filed following the college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Maryland won the game 13-10.

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Nebraska’s Blaise Gunnerson (97) stretches out to try an block a pass from Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa (3) to Maryland’s Roman Hemby (24) during the first half of a college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Harper Murray (27) watches as Nebraska’s Merritt Beason (13) misses the ball in the Northwestern vs. Nebraska college volleyball match at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.

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Brooke Holloway, Matthew McMullen Bill Holloway and Cindy Holloway cross the Red Cedar river on their way to Spartan Stadium prior to a college football game between the Nebraska Huskers and the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

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Nebraska and Michigan State fans react differently on a penalty call against Michigan State during the first half of a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Omar Brown (12) sits in a hall before playing Michigan State in a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Heinrich Haarberg (10), Nebraska’s Jeff Sims (7) and Nebraska’s Chubba Purdy (12) have a moment in a hall before playing Michigan State in a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

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A member of the Michigan State marching band drums upside down during the second half of a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

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Omaha Skutt raises their trophy following the Norris vs. Omaha Skutt Nebraska State Volleyball Class B Championship match at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. Omaha Skutt won the title in three sets.

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Sumner-Eddyville-Miller’s Katelynn Reiter (6) serves the ball in the O’Neill St. Mary’s vs. Sumner-Eddyville-Miller NSAA Class D-1 volleyball state quarterfinal match at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.

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Shania Twain performs at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.

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Minden’s Aubree Bules (11) serves the ball during the fourth set of the Nebraska state volleyball C-1 Championship against Kearney Catholic at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

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Overton’s JoLee Ryan (7) and Overton’s Ashlyn Florell (10) celebrate after sweeping Cambridge to win the Nebraska state volleyball D-2 Championship at Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.

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The sun sets behind Pinnacle Bank Arena before the Huskers’ men’s basketball team tips-off against Lindenwood in Lincoln on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023.

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Nebraska’s C.J. Wilcher (0) passes the ball against Florida A&M’s Jordan Chatman (2) during the first half of a college men’s basketball game at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.

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A look inside Memorial Stadium during the national anthem before the first quarter of a college football game in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Janiran Bonner (16) runs the ball past Maryland’s Beau Brade (2) to score a touchdown during the third quarter of a college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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Nebraska’s Malcolm Hartzog (13) pushes Maryland’s Antwain Littleton II (7) out of bounds during the third quarter of a college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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Creighton’s Trey Alexander (23) goes up to dunk the ball against Iowa’s Tony Perkins (11) during the second half of a men’s college basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.

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For all the progress she’s seen in a year-old campaign to counter a local surge in illegal pot shops — 24 shut down in recent months with perhaps twice that many still operating, mostly in Oildale and Rosamond — Kern County District attorney Cynthia Zimmer said it remains an uphill fight.

Sheriff’s deputies go in with search warrants one day, arresting employees and seizing cannabis, psychoactive mushrooms, cash and firearms, she said. Then the shop reopens, sometimes the same day, typically in the same storefront.

Zimmer’s trying something different lately. Her office now goes after landlords who rent to illegal cannabis dispensaries, in civil court instead of criminal, pursuing penalties of $2,500 per day the shop operates.

The strategy is new to Kern but not unique in California, where it’s seen as a way to enlist landlords who may not be aware of their tenants’ illegal operation. Prosecutors save time and money, even as landlords sometimes have trouble evicting criminal tenants and, in some cases, the shop ends up relocating a few blocks away.

So far, Zimmer’s civil division, normally focused on consumer fraud and the like, has filed seven lawsuits against commercial property owners. She said one case led to a $2 million judgment against the landlord.

“We’re very excited about this and we’re moving forward,” she said.

The lawsuits open a new front in the county’s battle against illegal marijuana sellers in unincorporated Kern. Although 24 pot shop workers have been arrested since the start of September, Zimmer said, local law enforcement has had less success bringing charges against actual operators.

Los Angeles cannabis law lawyer Seena Samimi agreed government in general is “always one step behind the operator,” who he said may just set up shop five blocks away. But that’s also why it makes sense to work with landlords, he added.

Property owners renting to an operation without a license to sell marijuana, Samimi said, are “just as guilty as the tenant is” because they are allowing a use that’s not permitted.

Some landlords in Southern California protest that the government’s actions are unconstitutional, in effect buying time to keep collecting highly profitable rents, he said. But others comply, allowing law enforcement to save substantial work.

A Beverly Hills lawyer recognized for his expertise in cannabis matters, William S. “Bill” Kroger, said he has a client with a series of shopping malls who was levied a $36 million fine by the city of Los Angeles for renting space to a series of dispensaries.

Landlords receiving twice normal rent, in some cases, often don’t understand they’re breaking the law, Kroger said. He added that enforcement against property owners in Southern California has been “kind of hit and miss.”

But even after landlords get “woken up” by prosecutors, he said, successfully kicking out tenants is another matter. Some fight back, he said, and some just don’t follow the law.

“It’s a battle to get them out,” Kroger said.

David Michaels knows the feeling.

After inheriting a shopping center in east Bakersfield, he fell ill from diabetes last summer and ended up under medical supervision for more than three weeks. When he got out of a rehabilitation hospital in early September, Michaels said, he found out someone had entered a long-vacant barbershop on his property, changed the locks and opened an unlicensed pot shop.

The operator has no lease and has paid no rent, he said. But when he called the Kern County Sheriff’s Office to remove the store, Michaels said, the responding deputy didn’t believe he owned the property. No action was taken, he added, even after his lawyer offered the deputy a copy of the deed.

Michaels called Zimmer’s office, he said, but was referred to the Better Business Bureau.

“Nobody will help me,” he said. “I’m very frustrated about this.” Michaels noted he has listed the shop for sale and plans to use the proceeds to buy a home in Los Angeles.

A KCSO spokeswoman said the agency has authority to help landlords remove illegal pot shops, but that how the process works depends on particular circumstances. She declined to comment on Michaels’ case without knowing details such as when exactly calls for service came in.

“It’s a case-by-case basis,” Public Information Officer Lori Meza said by email, “and if KCSO were to help a landlord facilitate the removal of a tenant, that would become a civil issue that gets referred to the civil unit, and that process could take months.”

Zimmer was unfamiliar with Michaels’ case but said a situation like he described would probably lead her office to give him additional time to remove a tenant before filing suit.

“We do understand that sometimes it is hard for the landlord to evict the client,” she said.

The county is concerned about illegal dispensaries because, Zimmer said, they often attract criminal behavior to surrounding neighborhoods and they sell marijuana that may contain illegal, carcinogenic pesticides.

Working with the KCSO and state authorities, the District attorney’s Office files for search warrants that, besides turning up hundreds of pounds of cannabis since August, also yield information her staff uses to send landlords a letter warning they may face penalties if they do not cease and desist.

Some cooperate, others get additional search warrants, Zimmer said. Whether they get hit with a lawsuit depends on how cooperative they are, she added.

Her office’s specific approach, developed in cooperation with Riverside and San Diego counties, accuses property owners of unfair competition violations, basically asserting they’re stealing business from licensed dispensaries elsewhere. The lawsuits her office files also accuse property owners of allowing a public nuisance and of breaking state cannabis regulation and drug abatement laws.

It’s only been a few months, but she said combining search warrants with arrests of pot shop employees with civil suits “seems to be an effective combination.”

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All local private attorneys may be assigned to represent indigent clients as soon as next Friday, whether they like it or not.

In a letter sent to the Scott County Bar Association late this week, Seventh District Judge Henry Latham said the court will begin assigning private attorneys in Scott County to defend people who cannot afford an attorney as soon as March 17.

“If there is not a significant increase in the number of contract attorneys by March 17th, the Court will have no choice but to appoint all licensed attorneys to cases to meet the need of the indigent defense in this district the following week,” Latham said in the letter.

The county uses full-time State Public Defenders and other attorneys under contract with the county to represent the indigent and to meet the demand. The private-practice attorneys would be required to represent indigent defendants on a case-by-case basis.

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Latham’s decision comes after he put out a call for contract attorneys in October of 2022. He sent the letter to all attorneys in the Seventh District Bar Association, detailing how the State Public Defender notified all the judges in the district that the Davenport Public Defender’s office would represent defendants only in the most serious felony and misdemeanor cases.

According to the judge, public defenders in Davenport can handle Class A and B felonies, but there are not enough of them to represent defendants in lower-class C and D felonies. Making the matter worse is a lack of contract attorneys in Scott County, which are private attorneys who are paid by the State Public Defender.

The reactions to Latham’s letter have been mixed.

Eric Tindal, a contract attorney who handles some cases in Scott County, said he understands the need for Latham’s letter. Local private attorney Eric Puryear said he will not accept contract work, because he finds it “morally offensive.”

Both attorneys agreed the state faces a number of intertwined issues when trying to find representation for poor clients and must take a hard look at how much contract attorneys are paid.

Eric Tindal is part of the firm Keegan, Tindal & Jaeger, which has offices in Iowa City and Davenport. He is a contract attorney who in 2022 represented indigent clients in four judicial districts and approximately 25 counties, including Scott.

“I was not surprised to get Judge Latham’s letter,” Tindal said. “Indigent defense is a national crisis.”

He offered some numbers for perspective.

“There are 370 attorneys on the contract list in Iowa,” Tindal said. “Now exclude the contract attorneys in Des Moines and in the Johnson County and Linn County corridor, and you have 311 attorneys for the rest of the state.

“Last year there were right about 47,000 claims. That means, basically, the number of bills attorneys sent to the state for services — (were) sent to the State Public Defender’s Office by less than 400 attorneys.”

That’s 127 services-for-clients claims per contract attorney in the state.

“There is an incredible strain on the public defense system in Iowa,” Tindal said. “And the situation in Scott County is one of the worst in the state.”

Because of that strain, he understands the need for Latham’s decision and added “the reasons for a lack of contract attorneys in Scott County are complex.”

“It goes beyond not having enough attorneys,” Tindal said. “Historically, the Scott County attorney‘s office has been difficult to deal with in terms of the discovery process — being able to easily see video evidence is just an example.”

He said “progress has been made” on that issue.

“The other issue has been that Scott County’s scheduling and procedural system has not been conducive to attracting out-of-county attorneys to work on cases in that county,” he said. “It has simply been hard to see clients and work with the prosecutors.”

He again stressed “the situation has been improving.”

“The County attorney‘s office has definitely been making progress,” Tindal said. “Everyone is pulling in the right direction.”

There are three things that can be done in Scott County to improve the prospects of luring contract attorneys, he said.

“One, make processing discovery easier for the defense attorneys,” he said. “Two, make reasonable plea offers and make them earlier in the process. And three, it would be nice if the County attorney picked up the phone and talked with defense lawyers.”

Back in late December, Tindal sent a letter to Susan Larson Christensen, the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, outlining the complex issues threatening indigent defense in Iowa.

He touched on the issue of what contract attorneys are paid.

“There is no dispute: the hourly rate must be increased. There is no need to belabor this point. Briefly, however, we will note how important it is to put the rate issue into context … in 1979 the rate was $40 per hour, which was an increase from the pre-1978 rate of $25.00 per hour,” Tindal wrote. “The hourly rate has increased some over time, but it has come nowhere close to the rate necessary to maintain a business. By most calculations, $40.00 is worth approximately $145.00 today.

“To state the obvious, Iowa’s court appointed rates for contract attorneys requires us to operate at or near an operational loss.”

Contract attorneys representing clients charged with Class C and D felonies are paid $68 an hour. Those representing Class B felonies make $73 an hour, and attorneys handling Class A felony cases are paid $78 an hour.

Several former contract attorneys who worked for the the Iowa State Public Defender pointed out contract attorneys in Illinois make much more — at least $126 an hour — while attorneys contracted through the Federal Defenders program make $150 an hour.

According to a number of private attorneys in Davenport, hourly rates for most legal work start at $225 an hour. Most divorce cases land in the $350- to $400-an-hour range, and criminal defense can run even higher.

Private attorney Puryear said it is his opinion that the pay rate for contract attorneys in Iowa is so low because of basic “structural deficiencies” in the state’s public defense system.

“It’s a choice,” Puryear said. “State’s attorney‘s offices are budgeted much more than the Public Defender’s office. The police budgets of most cities are enormous.

“We have a system in Iowa where a person who makes, say, $15 an hour gets accused of a crime and has to bail out of jail. That alone will wipe out most bank accounts. And then you have to try and pay for an attorney. The system is set up to keep people in that system and puts them at a huge disadvantage.”

Tindal said he didn’t have hard numbers, but estimated upwards of 90% of the people arrested in Iowa qualify for a public defender.

“If Iowa cared about getting people good criminal defenders, they would pay for it,” Puryear said. “The pay rate sends a clear message to the clients of public defenders about just how important their rights are.”

‘This is akin to slavery’

Latham’s letter expressed frustration with the private attorneys in Scott County and the Seventh Judicial District.

“I am completely disappointed at the lack of response that the Court has received from the bar. To date there has been only one attorney who has contacted the Public Defender to become a contract attorney,” he wrote.

Puryear said he has no intention to volunteer for what he calls a “purposely broken system.”

“Here in my office, two attorneys have devoted about 100 hours so far in 2023 to representing people who cannot afford legal help,” he said. “But I’m not going to be compelled to support a purposely defective system.

“The state gives huge amounts of taxpayer money to those who investigate, arrest, prosecute, and jail citizens, and at the same time purposefully deprives those citizens of the means to have a fair defense.”

Puryear added: “The state doesn’t pay public defenders or contract attorneys enough, creating a shortage of defense attorneys for indigent clients. Then Judge Latham asks all of us to support this system by working for the state at rates way below what we would normally be paid. It’s ridiculous.”

It is “ironic,” he said, that the state wants attorneys to volunteer to serve as contract attorneys.

“Judges certainly don’t volunteer their time to help with cases,” he said. “Do prosecutors donate their time to help clients? Police officers aren’t asked to volunteer time to do their jobs.

“Why are defense attorneys asked to do this? This is a big problem. I’m not exaggerating when I say this akin to slavery. Slavery is compelling people to work against their will. That’s what this is.”

Puryear said he is much more interested in hearing how the state is going to fix what he calls “the system.”

That system is headed up by Jeff Wright. He is the director of Iowa’s State Public Defenders Office and reports directly to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Under Wright’s office, 200 employees in 10 local Public Defender Offices and the Appellate Defender’s Office provide representation for poor and low-income people in all of Iowa’s 99 counties.

According to Wright, the Public Defender’s office in Davenport has a staff of eight, but three of them are not attorneys. The office is down three attorneys, and the state’s job board shows a listing for at least one — public defender fellow — open.

It pays between $55,000 and $85,000 per year.

“Maybe we can look at bail set so high people can’t afford an attorney,” Puryear said. “And look at the number of Public Defenders there are in the state and what they are paid.

“I’m tired of seeing the responsibility for the broken public defenders system placed on private attorneys. It’s not acceptable.”

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The post No volunteers, so local attorneys may be required to represent the poor appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.