Introductions and messages for

“Hallelujah Crazy”

 

An authorized biography of Arnett Wayne Sprouse

by

D. L. Charles

 

Cover Art by Zs. Zs. - Copyright 2006

 

My gratitude to Anya for designing the cover art for this novel. Check out her website and tour her gallery of oil paintings.

 

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     A very thoughtful individual was kind enough to inform me of the far-reaching effects this story could have on others who are involved in the tribulations of life's survival. Her response to me, of and by itself alone, made the several years involved to write "Hallelujah Crazy" worth the effort to tell Arnett Wayne Sprouse's story. With her permission I offer the response publicly, and with deep gratitude to her.

 

From:

Susan Kestella

Correction Specialist

Reception Coordinator for the Ohio Reformatory for Women

(April 05, 2006)

 

     "I am responsible for the Admissions/Orientation for all newly arrived prisoners. I have to share with you that every Tuesday, as I deliver my orientation speech to my newly arrived prisoners, I share a part of you and Mr. Sprouse. I remember reading a few years ago in one of the early chapters something I found to be so profound. It was the comment about sanity. "To go sane, you have to want sanity more than you want insanity."

     Certainly not to make anyone think that mental illness is a choice, but its about wanting something more than you want something else, I relate this to the prisoners when I ask how many of them want to return to prison after release. It's all about wanting to stay out more than coming back. Wanting to stay "out" more than sex, money, drugs, alcohol, relationships, or whatever. It really hits home and never fails bringing tears to some eyes.

     So, know your writing is reaching those in need, in an indirect way, but please know that I mention you and the name of your book to preface that part of my orientation.

     Tell me what you think about this? I am thinking of having "story time" where I narrate the chapters to my prisoners ... in an hour long program each week until we get through the book, then start all over again with a new set of inmates."

 

When an author, any author, writes something which results in the above concept, it creates a deep feeling of accomplishment and humility which causes its own value in doing so. This is why I write! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. D. L. Charles

 

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     I relieved "Red Eye" Smith as Warden of the Bolton Rock Quarry Prison after several inmates broke their legs to protest conditions and treatment there.  After that place was under control I was transferred to Doddsville State Prison, and that's where I was when Arnett Sprouse returned from Texas to continue his life sentence.

     I think we developed a healthy respect for each other.  We've both changed quite a bit, and we differed in some things as I recalled them but, in general, the story reflects conditions in the prison as I knew them.  I think we agreed on one important issue; prisons are in worse conditions now, so far as they affect society when an ex-convict returns to it, than ever before.  Prisoners in general enjoy a higher standard of living than the average working class man, and certainly higher than most of them had before they were imprisoned.  That's why they're not scared of going back to prison.

     So far as I know, none of the guards and only a few of the inmates who worked, lived, or died in the chain gangs when this story began are still alive, so I have no direct knowledge of many of the people mentioned in the story's beginning.  I know from hearsay that Tangle Eye Todd, Tricky Toe Thomas, and Shorty Johnson were shotgun guards who will always be remembered.  Long Chain Jones was a transport officer and I heard stories galore about a man called "Swampman" who died before he served much of his sentence.  Everybody knew Sheephead Kelly, and nobody could quite figure him out.  He was crazy, but the insane asylum wouldn't keep him.  We had to put up with him.

     I wasn't surprised when I was asked for an interview. Several 'old-timers' keep in touch with me.  Sprouse wasn't the first ex-offender to become a prison official, either.  Some of the best prisons were run by ex-convicts and, for the most part, they did good jobs.  The institutions, as bad as they sound now, did the best they could with what they had. The recidivism rate was a lot lower in those days.  If we had the facilities they've got now to sort them out better, it would have been lower yet.  We need a combination of the old and the new; segregation of the troublemakers, fair treatment, hard work that pays for their keep, and a parole system that works for those who earn it.

      I gave my permission to use my real name as long as the truth is told and he'll hear from me if it isn't.

James Earl Thompson

Deputy Warden, Doddsville State Prison (Retired)

 

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To Whom It May Concern:

     I met Arnett Wayne Sprouse in 1976. It has been my privilege to observe him work with clients in a variety of settings. He knows more about treating anti-social, criminal and irresponsible behavior than anyone I've encountered in my twenty year's career in the Mental Health field. He did not learn what he knows in college alone, but in hard encounters with men who donot know how to behave in socially acceptable ways.

     I have been frankly awed by his ability to diagnose the needs of such men and rapidly move them toward recovery. Clients who were considered hopeless by more orthodox therapists like myself, have become responsible citizens with pride, integrity, and a concern for others when exposed to Arnett's straight-forward methods.

 

     Parents are in despair about their children who 'don't grow up'. The criminal justice system admits it has little impact on recidivism. Every mental health agency is plagued with its hand-full of chronic trouble-makers who are not truly mentally ill. Society expends an inordinate amount of its 'human services' dollars on them. Arnett has the courage to tell the truth to this group and those who are painfully involved with them. We need to listen to this man who is able to reach them, motivate them, and teach them to take responsibility for themselves and their recovery.

 

     Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this valuable work.

Sincerely,

 

Joycie M. Meyers, M. Ed.

Licensed Mental Health Counselor

Certified Addictions Professional