As mobster Whitey Bulger prepares to go to trial, his former associate — now prosecution witness — Kevin Weeks isn’t doing any interviews.
But he will answer questions from Marblehead author Phyllis Karas on Thursday in the Wax Center Auditorium at Endicott College at 7 p.m.
Karas wrote a book with Weeks, “Brutal: My Life in Whitey Bulger’s Irish Mob,” that was published in 2006 and made the New York Times’ best-seller lists.
“Brutal” was part of an arrangement Weeks made with the court when he turned state’s witness in an earlier trial, against FBI agent John Connolly.
“Part of his deal was to write a book, the story of his life, and 50 percent of profits would go to victims’ families, so when he got out of prison, (he could) avoid wrongful-death suits,” said Karas, who teaches journalism at Boston University.
Weeks, who is now a free man with a full-time job, was involved in four murders with Bulger, and as part of his deal also served six years in prison.
Among the things readers can learn from Karas’ book is that Weeks had been accepted to Harvard when he chose to join Bulger’s Winter Hill Gang.
Thursday’s event is free, and Karas expects it will be more informative than sensational.
“In a university setting, it’s not going to be like going on Discovery or ‘Dateline’ on TV,” Karas said. “He will discuss his relationship with Whitey and the trial and what happened.
“The setup of the evening will be Q and A, then discussion,” she said. “He’ll answer what he can.”
