Father Behind Bars: A Steel-Hard Story of Poverty, Racism, Prison, and Responsibility

With the help of Banks, director of the Harlem Writers Guild, Hamilton recounts his life of poverty, violence, incarceration and redemption. Currently serving a prison term for armed robbery and manslaughter in Michigan, he ascribes his own violence to the example set by his abusive father who destroyed his family. He credits his reformation to Marilyn, a woman he met while in prison who brought her children, his children and him together as a family. Hamilton was also inspired to write and to continue his education, eventually completing his GED and graduating among the top 50 in the student body of a community college. Unfortunately, Hamilton describes little about Fathers Behind Bars, the nonprofit organization he founded to help incarcerated fathers and their children. While the book does not approach the fluidity and power of the classic prison memoir, readers will find this an inspiring tale. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.)