My book is a way to share my personal experiences of being incarcerated for 45 years. I have been through a lot inside prison. It has made me feel very rejected and disposable by my entire human family for me to be caged up like this for so long. I'm a person and I have feelings and potential. I can't rewind and take back what I I get wet-eyed when I see the little children missing an arm or leg on Shriner's Hospital tv commercials. I call that 'peeliing onions'. My heart is moved by broken love stories on tv and by sad occurances such as a buddy losing a mother or father while in here with me. So I know I am not a monster or a completely defective man with no reason for anyone to try to salvage me. I have been blessed to get my GED, a bachelor's degree in communications with honors, many Micrsoft expert level certifications, and completion of all the Department of Corrections instructions. While being incarcerated, I haven't just sat in my cell building resentment and hatred because my human family seems not to want me to be a member.

America's Prison System has quietly succumbed to industry interests. There are so many for-profit companies involved now. Medical for prisons is by for-profit companies. Food s by Aramark or some other huge for profit company. Transport of inmates are by for-profit companies. Telephone service and now email messaging service is handled by for-profit companies. Inmate commissary is done by for-profit companies. The point of my telling you this is because for these companies to do well on their bottom lines the prison beds MUST be filled. Offenders must continue to offend and to create victims of crime indefinitely into the future. If ever there was a time when society was being protected by our Justice and prison systems in America that time has long passed. Prisoners are treated in a manner now which ensures they will reoffend and at a minimum are released unprepared to conduct themselves as functioning members of a community. You might hate offenders and feel they must make different decisions. This is often defeated by the childhood and upbringing the offender had. Once a person has succumbed to a negative or bad beginning as a child there is a second opportunity to correct this individual. This opportunity comes from the time the individual is separated from the community. It is an opportunity that is used for just the opposite purpose. Time in prison serves to further one's sense of outcast and rejection by their community. The interests that need the beds full spend a lot of money keeping the focus and public opinion on punishing an offender. The person released is invariably more anti-community than when locked up. The ultimate problem with all of this is the future victims of crime. The system which the public believes is beneficial and protective is actually a cooperating partner in every crime committed by someone who has been imprisoned and released. This beast of a system has a life of its own and I watch it grow more violent and destructive every day. If you or your loved ones are facing the grim prospect of doing time I've written this book to help you prepare, cope, and hopefully survive this ordeal. When you are done just focus on making the changes which keep you from ever returning.