From Alcatraz to the White House: An Autobiography

I read this obscure autobiography a few years ago. I've thought of it many times since then. Even as a boy (in the 1920-30s) Nathan Glenn Williams rooted for the bad guys in the movies. He fell into crime as a teen, and later became a notorious bank robber. In and out of prisons he finally had a small business, got married, had a baby daughter, then he pulled one more bank heist. But he got caught again. His devastated wife and daughter were yanked away from him as he went - to Alcatraz - to do hard time. No direct outside contact for years. His daughter was gone from his life; it ate at him; a conscience was welling up within him. When finally released he had determined to change himself and to help others. With help from Seattle area churches he bought an old van and later a big bus to take wives, girlfriends, and children to area prisons on the weekends. The men needed to maintain some kind of contact with sanity, with loved ones. After years of developing this service he became recognized nationally, later receiving a Presidential pardon from Carter, and later a citation for his service from Reagan.

I visited Alcatraz in December 1996, spending Christmas in SF. I was strongly impressed. There, I bought this book and, back to home, I become uncapable to stop reading. This is the true history of a man who played to be rough and independent from society, and payed it very strongly. He spent the most of his life in differente prisons, Alcatraz included, and his way of relating is a extreme and captivating sincerity. I cried in some parts, laughed in others. And admired his capacity to be sincere at the end of his life, sharing every feeling while he was stealing, kidnapping, ecc..., day after day. As you can imagine, he met very interesting personalities and describes them with freshness and authenticity. I loved this book. It is a walk across the 20's, 30's and 40's, above all, and is a vivid, first-hand, portrait of the gangster's universe of those years. Congratulations, Mr. Willians, your history, mistakes, sorrows, bitter discoveries and some happiness have been useful for me and many other people. After so many terribles things, you can be proud of yourself. I am thinking to write to Mr. Willians since I read his book. At last, I did it.