Mama Herc was a genuine prison legend, infamous beyond his razor wire boundaries. When I was in the county jail for a couple of years, fighting my case through the courts, recidivists would share chain gang horror stories about what would [...]
Courtesy: Charles Norman Prisoners beaten to death by guards. A prisoner boiled alive until he died. A murder contract taken out against a released inmate by racist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) prison guards. Systemic brutality, widespread contraband smuggling, false statements, [...]
Courtesy of Charles Norman Big Willie Taylor came to my cell one evening after supper with a question. I knew it was a question because he never came to my cell unless he had a question that stumped [...]
Two young men recently asked me, “What gang are you in?” “I’m in a one-man gang,” I said. “The Norman gang.” I am an “old-timer.” The fact that I have survived over 36 years in Florida’s worst prisons without [...]
Murf the Surf and I are walking in the rain past the steam plant heading back to the Southwest Unit. The chapel is off to our left, separated from the sidewalk by tall, thick hedges. We are coming from the Main [...]
The guards conduct their master count at 10 p.m. each night, going from cell to cell with their list, calling out each person’s name in turn, and each of us responds by calling out our prison number. They verify that no [...]
About fifty prisoners, out of 1500 or so in this prison, crowded into the visiting area this morning. Barely three percent of the total population had family and friends willing to share their Christmas inside a prison. That sad statistic bodes [...]
April 5, 1978, dawned clear and bright in Tampa, Florida. My father was sick, at home, and I drove out to Thonotosassa, east of Tampa, to visit with him. Driving back to my apartment in North Tampa, I noticed several unmarked [...]
Courtesy of Charles Norman By Charles Norman Hoowee. The “h” is silent. Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language in which word meanings are enhanced by pronunciation of musical notes, emphases rising and falling, higher and lower. One word [...]
Courtesy of Charles Norman Tex McClain had nothing but his word. Old and sick, having outlived anyone in society who might help him, he had to live by his wits to earn coffee and cigarettes. Old Tex’s word [...]