A story I researched but didn't include in my “A World of Crime” blog series concerns the mystery surrounding a famous prison escape in 1962. (I did mention Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly who were both incarcerated there: see GANGSTERS and GOODFELLAS and ALPHONSE CAPONE ) Alcatraz seemed an appropriately unusual beginning to the AtoZChallenge2021.
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| ALCATRAZ |
According to federal officials, the mastermind of the escape from “The Rock”, a maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco Bay, had an I.Q. ranging in the top 2% of the nation during the early 1900s. His plans for the escape were elaborate.
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| Theater billing for Escape From Alcatraz |
In the movie, Escape from Alcatraz, Clint Eastwood portrays the mastermind and makes a successful escape. This is one interpretation of events. Another is that the three prisoners who attempted the escape probably drowned in the riptides and undertows of the bay.
While the movie is entertaining, I find the history of the mastermind disturbing. An orphan before his teens, he lived in foster homes before a theft conviction. From there he moved up to robbery and narcotics, which led to jail, a penitentiary, and finally Alcatraz.
The intellect of this male was wasted as he slipped through the cracks of society’s awareness. As was the intelligence of Theodore Kaczynski, considered a prodigy in his youth but known by today’s society as the Unabomber. One man spent his teens in reform school. The other received a degree from Harvard and earned a PhD in mathematics. Both ended up in prison.
We know the Unabomber pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and received eight "life sentences". It isn’t so clear what became of Frank Lee Morris and the Anglin brothers, Clarence and John, who attempted an escape from an escape-proof federal prison. Were their remains strewn along the seabed after being swept under the Golden Gate Bridge?
Or, having been whisked away by a girlfriend after struggling to shore, were they transported alive to reside in Mexico - only to have Frank and one of the brothers die in obscurity, with the other brother attempting in 2018 to turn himself over to authorities in exchange for medical treatment for cancer?
Some mysteries never die.
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We toured Alcatraz and have pictures of the kids in one of the cells- very dismal. Can’t imagine any of the prisoners who tried escaping by swimming would have made it.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the 2018 article, they did manage to get away, but I have no idea how.
DeleteScary walking into one of those cells, Wendy.
DeleteI loved that film, but had no idea about the background to the story. Very interesting indeed.
ReplyDeletehttps://iainkellywriting.com/2021/04/16/the-state-trilogy-a-z-guide-n/
One of those stories you're not sure whether to root for the good guys or the bad guys, Iain, if you don't consider what they were imprisoned for in the first place.
DeleteWhat an interesting and informative piece Gail. I fully intend visiting there one day.
ReplyDeleteAs a tourist, right, Keith?
DeleteGenius isn't everything. However I taught some brilliant children and as far as I could tell they were very well adjusted. A keen intellect is a thing of beauty and it is a shame to see one wasted in crime or as the Unibomber.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Ann. Makes you wonder how the mind balances decisions to determine which road to take.
DeleteI remember watching Escape from Alcatraz as a kid and being fascinated by it. I didn't know about the history. So sad that his genius was wasted. I wonder what really happened to him and the others.
ReplyDeleteApparently two eventually died and the third melted into the woodwork when his offer to surrender wasn't accepted. Who knows?
DeleteIntelligence and integration into mainstream society are often at odds with each other.
ReplyDeleteI choose to believe they escaped and lived out their days in the sunshine of Paraguay.
My "N" Tull tune of the day:
http://tao-talk.com/2021/04/16/a2z-2021-jethro-tull-songs-day-14a-new-day-yesterday-from-stand-up-1969/
Your interpretation of the outcome is as likely as any presented to date. Thanks for visiting to day, Jade.
DeleteReading this made me think of: The Tenth Kingdom, when John Larroquette says he has "Escape from Alcatraz" on tape so the prisoners will take him on their escape and the fact that Al Capone spent time in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where I spent a lot of my youth.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason it also makes me think of Voldemort...
DeleteSteph, you could probably write some telling tales about Al Capone, another of those infamous gangsters.
DeleteI have to watch for that movie...
ReplyDeleteWasn't able to find the movie free on YouTube, John. But it is available to rent or buy on NetFlix.
DeleteWhen they say facts are stranger than fiction, they mean it.
ReplyDeleteAll the 'guessing' can be great fodder for writers of fiction:)
So true, Arti. And, of course, plenty of movies and documentaries.
DeleteWhat a story.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of the escape from Alkatraz, of course, but i didnt know about the possibility that the runaways had perished soon after.
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter - The Great War
So much speculation, Sarah, hard to know what is true or fiction.
DeleteTim Tingle has a wonderful storytelling performance about a Native American man who participated in an Alcatraz riot, but saved a guard. He unfolds his entire life story, and it's heartbreaking and important to hear.
ReplyDeleteThe Multicolored Diary
Checked for the event but it's marked expired. Then checked for a possible book on Amazon. The only one available, a limited edition, is listed $890.00 for a hardcopy. The paperback is $27, though. Will have to do some more checking around.
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