Death Row Penpals
Well, it started as a Hobby!
A True Story
I was just sitting by my computer, and letting my brain churn up a random idea for something to search the internet for. In this modern age, and with the internet so widely available, I suspect that this activity is hardly uncommon. At this juncture, two separate thoughts clashed together in the mental void, and something major happened. It all started innocently enough with an email from a friend who I had met through the internet.
The ensuing train of thought got me wondering something along the lines of "Do people still have pen friends like children used to?' I know that some of these relationships lasted many years, and some people became lifelong friends this way. The second thought was caused by the recollection of a recent television programme about people who write to Death Row inmates in America.
I just allowed the two thoughts to mingle freely at some level of consciousness in my mind, and - ZZZAPPPP ! - a bolt of lightening was emitted from my logic circuitry that was so bright that it nearly set my hair on fire!. My hands began typing "Death Row Penpals" into a search engine, and I was away. I trawled through page upon page of pleas and stories. So many people! So much tragedy! I really felt for some of the people. I do accept the fact that for each one, there is probably a family out there somewhere that lost a Son or Daughter, or Mother or Father. But those on Death Row have families as well, and they too have to live with the tragedy.
I read page after page, and wrote to one of them. It is not really difficult to write to them, for once you have started the letter, after a sentence (bad choice of words, I know) or two, it is just like meeting somebody in a Pub or on a Bus, and just saying "Hi" to them. I wrote about who I am, where I live and what I do. Just a few details like that, nothing fancy at all. Then I just took the letter to the post office and sent it via airmail and that was all there was to it!
A few weeks later, I received a letter from the prisoner I had just written to. He told me he was thankful that his plea for friendship had been heard. If you wonder why it takes so long to get a reply, this is because when you write to a prisoner, the prison has to read it to make sure there is nothing bad, illegal or anything like that in it, and this can take a week or two, so patience is needed here. However, as I had not asked him about the crime he was convicted of, or his guilt or innocence, he knew (quite rightly) that I was interested in him as a person and not as a criminal. I started to write every week, as indeed I still do, and thus began a friendship that gets closer and stronger all the time. Although I now know a few details of the crime my friend was convicted of, it makes no difference to the way I feel about him as that was never, and will never be, what it is about anyway.
Since I have been doing this, I have discovered so much about the American criminal justice system and the day to day lives of the people it has in its grip that I am and will always be grateful for my life in the U.K. Now I no longer think of my friend as a prisoner, just as a friend who lives overseas. We always seem to make each other laugh, and tell each other about our likes and dislikes, about our families and everything that friends tell each other about. So it is all about friendship, it is not about the rights and wrongs of the death penalty - that is a discussion for another time.
As for the cost, well I send two or three pages of A4 a week and it usually only costs about eighty pence! So I would say, just go for it! You can learn so much, you can bring light into one of the darkest places on earth. Yes, there are some who want money to fight their cases, and you have no way of knowing anything about the people you write to, but there is nothing to be afraid of. My friend even sent me his Mother's address, and so now I write to her as well and I can honestly say that I have made some good friends. So just choose one, the addresses are freely available, and write in an honest and light hearted way and see if they respond. There are men and women of every race and creed. There are stories, histories, good times and bad times, to read about. But when it comes right down to it, they are just ordinary people, and none of us is totally innocent of all charges, are we?
I will summarise by saying that I feel privileged to have been given a glimpse into the mind and life of a man who is in a situation that I would find unbearable. But I am also privileged to be able to say that I have shone a light into a dark place and answered when someone called out for a friend â€' someone to listen. My friend is in San Quentin, and he has told me that he has friends there who would love to receive a letter from any of you, so if you are interested in shining a little bit of light into a dark place, then please contact me. After you have read my story of how I got started writing to a man on Death Row, I hope that some of you would also consider offering your friendship as well.
My friend has supplied me with a few names of friends of his, who would very much appreciate hearing from you and making a new friend. As I have said before, for me, it is not about guilt or innocence. Neither is it about the rights and wrongs of the Death Penalty. It is just about answering when a stranger calls "Hello?" You don't have to be the world's greatest or prolific writer. All you need is just a little time to write a letter now and then. It is such an easy thing to do, and you can make such a difference. If you can, please choose one of the following names, and send off a few lines, and then you too can shine a little light into darkness.
K. Pearson - #V #15761
Mickey Cage - #V #13961
Andre Alexander - #E #75526
Ruben Gomez - #E #99658
Donald Smith - #E #07008
Richard Valdez - #K #56901
Raymond Cumming - #D #15600
Correll Thomas - #P #55743
The address is San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California 94974, U.S.A.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Tel: 01209 â€' 717434 Email: Ala3nthefirst@aol.com