Staying alive in prison is not an easy task. This year more than 2,000,000 men and women will go behind bars and fight for safety, meaning, and a bleak future. Some, on the other hand have found secrets to making the experience profitable. The stories told here will make you fear and in some cases cheer. To understand the true story of prison, one should understand the background of the author of the story. I didn't come along until 1927, but my parents chose an auspicious place for my birth. They chose Skedee, Oklahoma. From the outset I knew that I was special. Not many people can say that they were born in Skedee. The exclusivity of my place of birth has permitted me to hold my head high on all occasions. At one time I was Bud Wilkinson's guest when he had an office in the White House. Even on that occasion, I felt that special pride of knowing that probably not one other person in the entire place had been privileged to having been born in Skedee. For those of us who are culturally aware, being born in Oklahoma is a secret form of royalty. I started out to be an educator and a minister, but somewhere along the way I caught a detour that led me in a new direction. Following that uncertain journey, I discovered a new occupation-writing. Today, I sit at my computer, look across a beautiful lake, and I write. I have traveled the world. I have lived in Japan, South Africa and Canada. I have visited more than 60 countries of the world, but there is no place like home. Now I live in Fort Towson, Oklahoma on a small lake-Lake Raymond Gary. Fort Towson is a bigger place than Skedee, but not by much. It is a democracy of gracious common people with whom I am honored to live in community. Education U. of N.M. (M.A. in Philosophy) N.T.S. (B.D. in Theology) U. of Kansas (Doc. Studies, Human Relations.) U. of Denver (Ed.D., in Higher Ed.) Iliff at Denver U. (Th.D., in Sociology of Rel.) Atlanta U. (Social Work)