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William
Jennings Bryan Burke, at right, escaped from Folsom
Prison in 1929 by hiding in a coffin. He was
recaptured several states away and returned to
prison.
Prisoners
in the early days wore striped suits to make them
more identifiable should they escape.
While
in Folsom Prison, Billy Burke created his famous
toothpick carnival. A section of it is currently on
display at the Folsom Prison Museum which is open
to the public.
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*
30th Anniversary Ebook
Edition
This
is a true story of my 23 years in Folsom Prison.
These were years of fear, hate and frustration
with men who had no hope of freedom. I knew only
one thing:
I had to escape! -- Billy Burke
PROLOGUE:
I first met Billy Burke in 1975 while I was on an
assignment for The Sacramento Bee newspaper. I
wrote a feature story on his toothpick circus, all
the while feeling the story of his life as a
convict needed to be told in hopes of helping young
people who might otherwise follow in his footsteps.
The simple words and language are Billy's, spoken
from experience and from the heart, with very
little editing on my part. The first edition in
1979 was in paperback format. This second edition
prepared in 2009 is presented in Ebook form -- Nan
Nichols
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>>>Buy
now at Amazon.com
for the Kindle version, or Barnes
& Noble
for the Nook version.
The old dining room at Folsom Prison shows
prisoners sitting on one side only at long
tables.
Billy,
as a free man in later years, was photogrpahed with
prison permission, revisiting a cell which was
similar to his own during his 23 years at Folsom
Prison.
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