MIRACLE AT SING SING: How One Man Transformed the Lives of America's Most Dangerous Prisoners
Ralph Blumenthal, . . St. Martin's, $25.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-312-30891-9
In his 22 years as warden of Sing Sing prison through the 1920s and 1930s Lewis Edward Lawes oversaw the execution of more than 300 inmates. In Blumenthal's beautiful and bracing account of those years, Lawes, a death penalty opponent, experienced the pain of each death as though it were one of his own family. Against convention, Lawes saw his charges as individuals with talents, flaws and the need for fundamental respect. In looking out for his "boys," Lawes fought existing practices, misguided reformers and a public that would sooner forget those who have run afoul of the law than come to grips with the social conditions that produce such people. Blumenthal, an investigative reporter for the
Reviewed on: 06/07/2004
Genre: Nonfiction
Open Ebook - 320 pages - 978-1-4668-2604-5
Paperback - 320 pages - 978-0-312-34273-9