New prisoners don’t always self-surrender here with hopeful spirits, and I’m always inspired when a man transforms his life from inside these boundaries. Mike Levy, an acquaintance I wrote about previously, surrendered to Taft Camp weighing nearly 340 pounds. During the three months that he’s served so far, Mike has dropped nearly 70 pounds. The dramatic [...]
I frequently speak with men who self-surrender to prison. When they hear that I’ve been incarcerated since 1987, they want to know how I’ve managed to serve so much time without losing my mind. The truth is that prison has strengthened me on many levels, and I appreciate opportunities to suggest strategies that will help [...]
On 1 October 1988, 21 years ago today, I began to exercise regularly. I exercised regularly during the previous year, but I was locked in jails and only able to exercise in my cell with pushups. By the time I transferred to the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, I was fit and ready to commit to [...]
I’m pleased to have finished Chapter 9 today, or at least a first draft of the chapter. I began writing at 1:51 this morning and by the time I finished for the day, I advanced the manuscript to page 420. I’d like to begin outlining and writing chapter 10 in the morning. I can’t. This morning I [...]
This morning, I began writing at 1:47 am. I’m writing about the days leading up to my marriage with Carole. My mother and my younger sister, Christina, flew to New Jersey to participate in our wedding inside the Fort Dix visiting room. That wedding was one of the best days of my imprisonment. Many people [...]
I’m trying to convince David, my roommate at Taft Camp, to continue his education. A few months ago I wrote a blog describing David’s graduation from the GED program. Since then I’ve urged him to continue with studies at Taft College, but he’s losing interest. Like many prisoners, David’s being seduced with the “easy money” [...]
My visit yesterday with my sister, her children, and Carole, exhausted me, I guess. I slept until the unpardonable hour of 2:30 this morning. I could have slept longer, but I was too eager to hop down from my rack and resume writing chapter nine of Earning Freedom. I had a productive writing session, advancing [...]
Another prisoner who serves time with me at Taft Camp asked me what it has been like to spend so many years in prison. That’s a question I can’t answer easily, and it’s the reason I keep writing books and articles on the subject. To describe 22 years in prison is going to become a [...]
Today I complete my 1,144th week in prison. I arrive at that number because today I complete my 22nd full year. The number isn’t exact because of the several leap years, but with 8,036 days in, I don’t think that anyone would dispute it’s been a long time. Yet the time hasn’t been wasted. Those [...]
This morning at 1:40 am I resumed work on chapter six of my manuscript for Earning Freedom. I wrote through page 262. Then I went outside to exercise, running 10 miles and boosting my tally to 2,062 miles over the past 233 days. In the afternoon, I wrote more, advancing chapter six to page 265. [...]
