PURPOSE
This website has two purposes: first, to introduce my book, Unusual Punishment, and encourage people to buy it, and second, to provide additional photos, stories, and multimedia for people who have enjoyed the book and would like to know more.
All of the posts are from historical material I gathered over the years while doing research for the book. Many of the photos – which really do enhance the story – look fine on an electronic device, but lack the pixel density to work on a printed page. The voice recordings are from interviews I conducted – mostly in the 1990s, but a some more recently. The video clips are excerpts from a television show produced by Seattle-based KING TV in 1972.
NAVIGATION
The pages on this website are arranged more or less chronologically. For example, the superintendents are listed in the order they served; events are in the order they occurred. All posts are indexed by general topic as shown in the CATEGORIES box to the right. To limit the pages to a particular topic, simply click on the category of interest.
hi mr. murray, I have ordered your book off amazon and am looking forward to reading it. my grandfather was bill macklin who was assistant superintendent under mr. rhay. I saw my grandfather’s name on the memo you listed on this site and I am hoping you have some stories in the book about him. my grandfather lived an incredible and unusual life. I believe you will be receiving offers from Hollywood to make this book into a movie because this was such an unusual social experiment. when Hollywood comes knockin feel free to contact me. my mother will have plenty of stories and info for you. good luck and congrats.
Not a lot about your grandfather. He left WSP a year into the 15 years story of UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT. I hope you you’re right about the Hollywood offers – but I’m not holding my breath!
This grabbed my attention after researching newspaper articles about my uncle Henry M Griffith that was convicted in 1956 and sentenced to be hung however; winning numerous stays of execution to then being paroled in 1978. In doing my research I found that he was one of the first officers of the Lifers With Hope Program that was started in 1971 and testified in a trial based on a murder that happened when Arthur St. Peter was out during Take A Lifer to dinner program. I’m curious if you’ve heard of these stories and or are mentioned. Thank you