A Man Who Found the Meaning of Life in a Solitary Cell . . .Who Fought His Way Up from Rock Bottom to Win Wealth and Success! Bill Sands was doing three consecutive life terms in San Quentin by his nineteenth birthday. He admitted that he was on his way to committing murder if he hadn’t been stopped. Thirty years later he was a successful businessman, a famous speaker and the author of a bestselling book. Along the way he had been a pilot, a boxer, a comedian, and a diamond miner. Bill Sands died in 1969, but he left behind as his legacy this exciting story of his life so that others could benefit from his incredible experiences. Bill Sands was a devoted follower of Napoleon Hill, an author and advisor to two Presidents who devoted his life to creating a formula for success. This formula consisted of seventeen principles that anyone can learn. Here in Sands’ bestselling life story, he demonstrates the power of applying Hill’s formula for success. This edition contains a special introduction explaining exactly which of Hill’s principles Sands used—or abused. My Shadow Ran Fast is the incredible story of a remarkable man—an ex-convict actively engaged in prison reform work and in the rehabilitation of criminals. Learn how to unleash your power to control your life just as Bill Sands did. Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve! "An excellent portrayal of a very mixed-up and dangerous young man. I highly recommend this book."-CLINTON T. DUFFY, FORMER WARDEN OF SAN QUENTIN PRISON

Theodore Hamm uses the 1960 execution of Caryl Chessman as a lens for examining how politics and debates about criminal justice became a volatile mix that ignited postwar California. The effects of those years continue to be felt as the state's three-strikes law and expanding prison-construction program spark heated arguments over rehabilitation and punishment. Known as the Red Light Bandit, Chessman allegedly stalked lovers' lanes in Los Angeles. Eventually convicted of rape and kidnapping, he was sentenced to death in 1948. In prison he gained significant notoriety as a writer, beginning with his autobiographical Cell 2455 Death Row (1954). In the following years Chessman presented himself not only as an innocent man but also as one rehabilitated from his prior life of crime. He acquired an enthusiastic audience among leading criminologists, liberal intellectuals, and ordinary citizens, many of whom engaged in protests to halt Chessman's execution. Hamm analyzes how Chessman convinced thousands of Californians to support him, and why Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, who opposed the death penalty, allowed the execution to go forward. He also demonstrates the intrinsic limits of the popular commitment to the rehabilitative ideal. Rebel and a Cause places the Chessman case in a broad cultural and historical context, relating it to histories of prison reform, the anti-death penalty movement, the popularization of psychology, and the successive rise and decline of the New Left and the more enduring rise of the New Right.

Addiction is real. The fate of broken lives as a result of addiction is real. Rock bottom is real. Death is real. Freedom is real. Faith and recovery are real. In this memoir, author Luke Tougas details his real struggle with addiction. Tougas, a five-year psychology major, finds himself caught in the vicious cycle of alcoholism. Ashamed and distraught, he attempts to heal himself without anyone knowing of his addiction. Meet My Shadow follows Tougas as he sees a psychiatrist where he puts on a mask and pays to lie. He tells of meeting his first love and breaking her heart. And he tells of failure after failure of self-help methods and finding himself at rock bottom. Tougas writes about laying defeated on the bathroom floor facing two choices: keeping his secret, dropping out of school, losing his job, and watching his life fade; or revealing his secret, admitting defeat, and seeking guidance from the only ones who can help himAlcoholics Anonymous. Meet My Shadow captures the in-depth effects and struggles of addiction. It follows Tougas on his journey from self-torture and despair to conquering his alcohol addiction with courage.

This book, which describes the author’s one man crusade for a new penal rehabilitation program, known as The Seventh Step, takes you right into the drama of prison life. In 1963, Bill Sands, an ex convict, and the Reverend James Post formulated a self- help group in the Kansas State Prison. This first pre-release program adopted a slogan and guidelines that are the basis of The Seventh Step programs today. This was a danger-charged mission of an ex-inmate at San Quentin who crashed the Main Yard to prepare convicts for life in the “squarejohn” world—to help them go outside—and stay out. Faced with the hopelessness of the men who had been parolled but not released because no one would hire them, getting the men to face themselves and the outside world realistically, knowing about the inmates’ desire for revenge, all had to be channeled into an overwhelming desire for freedom. Their stories are fascinating and inspiring. Tremendously successful, the program reduced the number of men returning to prison for crimes committed after their release from 80% to 20% and spawned Seventh Step chapters across the United States. “a shocking chronicle of prison life . . . fascinating.” —BIRMINGHAM NEWS “I think it is a great book and I found it full of inspiration.” —NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

Emerging from her fascination with anarchists while studying political science at Columbia, Duncan (law, Emory U.) explores the paradoxes of crime, such as law-abiding citizens who like to commit violent criminal deeds, convicts who find beauty in their prison yards, and wardens who lose their jobs because they are actually succeeding at rehabilitating their charges. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Carol Corwin writes about the reality of life struggles: alcoholism, death of a close family member and the loss of a treasured home. However, amid the dissapointment and grief, there is always hope and prayer. She and her husband, having been strengthened in their own trials, reach out to others who are caught in a web of despair. They acquire a spacious place, the ranch, where they minister to adults in need and raise foster children along with their own family. The touching and humorous incidents that arise from this work are depicted in chapters which read like short stories. In the heart of the book is an adventure for nine- a motorhome trip of five weeks across the country with their newly blended family. You will Laugh and cry as the family members come alive in this inspiring true story of changed and changing lives.

This brief, compelling life story of a drug addict poses and answers questions of broad public concern about social responsibility, illicit drug use, hidden economies, and social inequality. Merrill Singer, a medical anthropologist involved in the public health impact of alcohol and illicit drug use, conducted interviews over a seven-year period with Tony, a street drug addict who grew up in the inner city. Tony learned the ways of using and selling drugs from his father, became an enforcer in a street gang, spent considerable time in prison, committed seemingly heartless, violent acts, and has had to struggle with the knowledge that he suffers from HIV infection. Tonys life story is an insider, personal view of a tumultuous, marginalized world that intertwines closely with the wider social milieu constructed and sustained by the U.S. political economy. Unique to this book is its attempt to understand the forces that contribute to the risky behavior of drug use, even at a time when drug users know about its deadly and damaging connection to diseases like HIV and hepatitis. Tonys story demonstrates that none of us make choices in a vacuum. Further, the book addresses important issues about how structures of social inequality in our society impact the lives and options of those at the bottom of the social ladder.

One-of-a-kind bibliography, research, and history resource containing explicit information about author Dick B.'s 16 years of research: (1) Collecting over 25,000 books and materials on the roots of A.A. (2) Using them in the publication of his 26 titles, more than 120 articles, and over 30 audio talks. (3) Describing where he went for the history, where it is located, who was interviewed, and what it contains. (4) It lists titles Dick used in his writing; all of the background titles involved in A.A.'s use of the Bible, Quiet Time, Oxford Group life-changing program, Anne Smith's Journal, Rev. Sam Shoemaker's teachings, religious literature AAs read, the United Christian Endeavor Movement, Carl Jung, William James, William D. Silkworth, Richard Peabody, Emmet Fox and many other New Thought influences. (5) It lists all the books in A.A. founder Dr. Bob's library and collections--a list found nowhere else. (6) It contains manuscripts from archives and libraries and personal collections all over the U.S. and England. (7) There is a huge collection of temperance books and literature described. (8) Topical books by A.A., about A.A., about alcoholism, about "spirituality," about the Bible, religion, and clergy. (9) Included are records of Dick's notes and interviews. (10 Almost this entire collection of materials has been donated to and can now be found and studied at Griffith Library, which is part of The Wilson House (birthplace of Bill W.) in East Dorset, Vermont. Taken together, this reference volume and the actual materials in the Griffith Library, constitute the largest and most complete record of early A.A. historical materials in the world today, other than the Library of Congress items.