Monday, September 17, 2012

PRISON IS A PLACE by Harley M. Sorensen

"Who was Harley Sorensen? He was a writer. A loving partner. A big man - 6 feet 2 and over 200 pounds. A sports fan and a chess champ. Above all, Sorensen was a man who turned his life around." - Columnist Gail Rosenblum, The Star-Tribune, 'Rediscovered Letters Link Prisoner, Kids 40 Years Later' - Read the Oct. 17, 2012 column here
PRISON IS A PLACE - written in 1971 and rediscovered after author Harley M. Sorensen's death in 2011, is now available in print edition at Amazon.com here and in digital edition at Amazon Kindle here.

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I am proud to have known Harley and pleased to bring this book to readers, and grateful that Harley's friends and family believed in me enough to let me run this project. The story behind this book is remarkable: After columnist Gail Rosenblum mentioned Harley's Feb. 15, 2011 death in her Minneapolis Star-Tribune column, Harley's longtime girlfriend Betty Wyren thanked her in the story comments. Another reader had purchased the contents of an abandoned storage bin - several old storage boxes full of Harley's things, mostly prison-era (1960's and early 1970's) memorabilia, but also newspaper awards, letters, photos and several manuscripts. He Googled Harley's name, found Rosenblum's story and Miss Betty's comment, and contacted Miss Betty via email. She negotiated a reasonable price for the cache. Miss Betty and I bought the storage bins subject to my inspection, and after only a peek I was satisfied it was a good haul. I bought the old plastic boxes, paying several hundred dollars of my money and Miss Betty's money for storage boxes so dusty and dirty I wondered whether they might harbor rats or some dread virus as I shared car space with them on the ride home, and slept beside them at a rest area. Also on that trip, I toured the Star-Tribune with Rosenblum as well as Stillwater Prison, now MCF-Stillwater, and visited some of Harley's friends before returning to Tennessee. It took 18 months to get the book ready for sale. I first typed into the computer the manuscript from the original, hand-written letters from the children and Harley's typed replies, and began a series of printings and readings. Several reads later, my wife, Ginny, formatted the book in Microsoft Word. Jeff Hottle designed the cover, with a photo of Harley by Kent Kobersteen, also an old Tribune hand; and a clipping from the Trib that ran with a Harley column several years ago. I think Harley would be proud of the final product and I hope you will enjoy it. For millions of children with a parent, aunt or uncle in prison, it offers a unique perspective on the place and the people we lock up there. - Thomas Brent Andrews, Publisher, Chronic Discontent Books, September 2012 Back to Chronic Discontent Books