5 comments about Willow in a Storm: A Memoir.

1. James Peter Taylor's memoir, Willow in a Storm, attests to the incredible strength required to weather the stream of injustices launched at him over and over again through decades of incarceration. First arrested in 1950 for impersonating an FBI agent to retain the privilege of keeping his date out late, Taylor began a series of petty crimes that resulted in repeated confinements until his spree spiraled into the unthinkable: murder. Though he never intended to commit such a heinous crime, events transpired which resulted in Taylor taking the life of a banker in a botched robbery attempt. His case became the springboard for one man's political career, and Taylor was subsequently imprisoned for the maximum length of time possible. Attempts at parole were repeatedly denied through strategic maneuvering on the part of prison officials.
   
   Willow in a Storm chronicles Taylor's life, from his earliest memories through his time spent in various correctional facilities, to his current state of affairs. While he repeats many times that his early life events are not justification for his criminal behavior, he does try to explain the various reasons he feels contributed to his precarious behavior. In his twenties, he began a pattern of using women and throughout his life, left a trail of failed marriages and fatherless children behind.
   
   Taylor's prison years detail the various forms of abuse inflicted upon him by fellow inmates, as well as guards. He gives the reader an intensive tour of an inmate's daily regime and the constant threats faced. An important fact the author notes is that only three percent of those given life sentences actually complete those sentences to be released. The rest die of natural causes or more likely become victims of prison violence. Taylor spent years adapting to his circumstances and creating a general plan for survival, but only after several suicide attempts. When he finally made the revelation that he would indeed persevere despite his predicament, it was a matter of strategy to overcome the jeopardy of prison life.
   
   Each chapter covers a specific block of time, and unfortunately, they are not in chronological order. The book could benefit from more organization. Even with a time line at the end, the progression of events is still quite confusing for the reader. I've had to refer to it several times in writing this review just to verify I was understanding the span of Taylor's life correctly. But the details and the author's passion for conveying his message are clear in the writing. Taylor became disabled--more specifically blinded--in an attack on his life while incarcerated, so his story had to be dictated to his wife, Kathleen Murphy-Taylor to create the book.
   
   Taylor has made attempts at atoning for his crimes over the years through altruism inspired by a novel he read while in prison. He regrets the loss he caused to the banker's family, and it is both fitting and beautiful that he dedicated the book to them. Through faith and spirituality, he has attempted to leave a positive legacy behind and demonstrates the redemptive effects of his incarcerations. If ever there was a candidate for reform, I would say James Peter Taylor is that person.
   
   However, I was disappointed that while Taylor made attempts to reconnect with people who influenced him and sought out his daughter from his first marriage, there is no mention of children from later relationships. I would think that in his reconciliation attempts, he would want to bring closure to all of his offspring. He certainly left many broken relationships over the years.
   
   James Peter Taylor's story is a sad one ripe with neglected opportunities. But it is also an eye-opening look at the justice system. Though Taylor deserved to be punished for his crimes, the extent of his sentences did not match his behavior, and one incarceration was simply through association, not an actual crime. It is frightening how easily the legal system can be abused for individual gain. For a person to serve the majority of their life in prison and resurface with any degree of integrity is a feat. I commend Taylor for his resilience and perseverance.



2. Once in awhile, the rehabilitation system does work - but never without cost. "Willow in a Storm" is the story of James Peter Taylor in its entirety. A man whose life started off well enough, once a star sports star as a child his life quickly fell into turmoil as a psychological backlash against his childhood abuse. His life spirals into an unintentional murder of a banker, which lands him in prison for forty years - a life sentence where he was set to die there. And he almost did, twice, one of those attempts leaving him blind. Somehow, he survives, finds inspiration, and makes a better person of himself. He's paroled, and now reveals his life story and all the turbulence and triumph that spilled from it. "Willow in a Storm" is a conflicting yet enthralling life story from the first page to the last, and is highly recommended for community library memoir shelves.



3. Trying to commit the perfect crime leads Jim Taylor to 43 years in prison. This true account details Taylor's privileged family circumstances, his survival tactics as an inmate in the brutal federal prison system and the slow steps he makes toward his eventual release. Written matter-of-factly and without sentimentality, Willow in a Storm rivets our attention on Taylor as he faces inhumane treatment, dangerous situations and a period of unjust incarceration. Although details are grim, there is always hope. Despite incredible obstacles and with the help of a few individuals who believe in him, Taylor changes from a callous to a caring person. This suspenseful, compelling and well-documented narrative exposes the U.S. corrections system from the inside.



4. This is an amazing book. It is not about prisons or penitentiaries. It is the story of a soul, the creation of a life.
   I by chance met Kathleen and Jim at their book reading and knew I was in the presence of a powerful, spiritual, loving man. I am deeply touched by his choice and determination to create a life of purpose, of being useful, being kind and generous. He is an example of light existing in perhaps the darkest place of our country in our time, our penal system.
   I have been in ministry most of my life, and one wonders what difference am I really making? I am deeply touched first by the impact of the chaplain in the Hennepin County Jail, Rev. Leo Vetvick, and even more by Larry Nelson, Supervisor of Education at the US Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. "This man saw in my eyes something good and he invited me into his domain as a potential contributor." (p.63) It is clear to me, it was their seeing goodness in Jim, their look and words of love that called forth in Jim, and made that profound difference in how he chose to live his life.
   I am reminded of Vicktor Frankl in the concentration camps, as described in his book, Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl says in those terrible conditions that he was free, and the guards were not. Jim lived Frankl's description of freedom. It is not freedom from coercion or control; it is inner strength, a freedom to choose making a difference, contributing, not being vengeful and retaliating, even in the most extreme circumstances.
   I honor James Peter Taylor for choosing life, a life of listening to his own heart in horrendous circumstances, creating a life of freedom, generosity, courage, service, peace, hope and love. Powerfully inspiring.



5. I found Willow in a Storm a most compelling memoir from beginning to end. Jim Taylor's account of journey from a difficult childhood through a troubled adolescence and early adulthood sets the stage well for the rest of the story, his incarcerations and finally his release. The psychological growth and spiritual evolution that he experiences are described in believable ways, and the fact that he survived and came through all this a whole person is an inspiration. I recommend Willow in a Storm for anyone who is interested in learning about our Federal prison system from the inside out, and for those who want to appreciate the amazing resiliancy of the human spirit.

4 comments about The Shark Net.

1. I picked this up expecting an interesting true crime work, not realizing that the vast majority of the book is a pretty straightforward memoir of growing up in Australia in the '50s and '60s. The book starts very confusingly, with the author observing the court proceedings of a murder
   trial, only to flash back to his early youth. Drewe was a young child when his father was assigned to the remote Western Australian city of Perth to be a branch manager for the Dunlop rubber company. The first half of the book is about his childhood, and as far as memoirs go, it's well done. I'm not a big fan of the genre, but Drewe is nicely selective in recounting his dysfunctional home life and is very adept at retelling the awkwardness of his first crush. his childhood is not that dissimilar from that of upper middle-class American kid of the same era. His father is more or less a company drone, and Dunlop business pervades every aspect of his personality and the family life. His mother is overprotective and retreats into religion with sometimes eerie intensity. Both parents were emotionally distant and unexpressive.
   
   The raison d'etre for the book is that in the years Drewe moved from childhood to being an adult, a serial killer was stalking the suburbs near his home and Drewe's life intersected with the case in many ways. His father was friends with a policeman who would come over to their house and discussed the case behind closed doors. One of the murders is committed with a friend's garden axe. There's a peeping tom on the loose who may or may not be connected to the killings who late one night scares Drewe's mother by prowling out back. More ominously, one of the last victims is of one of Drewe's friends. But the coup de grace is that the killer turns out to be someone known to the family, someone Drewe even spoke to as a child. While the murders form a dark backdrop to his childhood, they are never dwelt on in any great depth, nor is Drewe particularly interested in recounting the case. That said, there are a few sections where he writes from within the killer, imagining his life. On the whole though, until the very end it's pretty thin about why someone would be killing random people on and off with knives, axes, guns, and even hit and run. It's a curious mix of a book, a very well-written memoir with slices of darkness sprinkled in.



2. I really liked this book, it was incredibly easy to read, not to mention enjoyable. A great little lesson in a piece of Australian history that is seemingly unknown by Generation Y (I'm 17, and had no previous knowledge of this tale), Robert Drewe uses his writing talent to the nth degree in a book which covers the funny and the saddening. I can recommend this book to anyone, more so overseas readers who want to discover a bit of Australian 'culture', if that's the word to use (probably not, but you know what i mean!).



3. The Shark Net is one of those rare memoirs that succeed in being almost as haunting to the reader as the events it describes are to the author himself. It is Robert Drewe's story of his childhood and early adulthood from the late `40s to the early `60s in the Western Australian city of Perth, then as now a city defined by a deep awareness of its geographic isolation.

   The story that unfolds bears some similarity to John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Both books elegantly weave a tale of real-life mayhem into descriptions of the social fabric of an isolated city. The difference is that Berendt's tale of the anachronistic charms of Savannah, Georgia is far more light-hearted than Drewe's grim account. The Shark Net is built around a series of random serial murders that erupt into the narrative to create an overpowering sense of menace. It is also a much more personal book, in which Drewe tries to confront his memories of these murders and other tragedies that intruded into his formative years in sunny Perth. The killer and his crimes directly touched on Drewe's life at several points, not least of which is that one of the random victims is a close boyhood friend, despite it being Drewe who had once unwittingly met the killer.

   Drewe also re-creates his family life, but not wholly lovingly. He documents with painful understatement the emotional inhibitions of his parents, and the decline of their marriage. His father was an emotionally unexpressive man whose few passions include a near religious dedication to his employer, the Dunlop rubber company. His only expressed reaction to the news that his son is about to become a teenage father is concern about the company's reaction. The book ends with Drewe being surprised by his eagerness to leave provincial Perth to work on a big city newspaper in Melbourne.

   This is riveting book, that will grip Australian readers and those overseas. Its tone is of a man who in middle age is now compelled to look back on events with a mixture of sadness and greater understanding. It is quite complex in structure, with several flashes forward in time and interludes into the mind of the killer, but uses a clear prose style that keeps the story moving along effortlessly. It is also beautifully evocative of a time and a place. This is the book that Robert Drewe had to write for himself, and we should all be grateful that he has done so.




4. There have been some great "teenager growing up" books - and I thought this funny/sometimes sad book is a stand out in a very strong genre.

   I know Robert Drewe is one of Australia's best, and best liked writers. It turns out he lived what seems an ordinary childfhood, in quite extraordinary settings. His father was the bombastic company man for Dunlop in West Australia - a regional big cheese, odious but tasty. That brings young Drewe into contact with interesting people such as the tennis stars Dunlop sponsors, like Hoad and Rosewall.

   And also with a serial killer who was knocking off Drewe's friends, while working for his dad. Hell of a back drop.

   The young Drewe is hardly the sensitive youth.He has the balanced perspective of a 16year old male who understands there is no more exciting prospect in life than copping his first feel.Maybe that gets to what I like most about this book -- Drewe's memories and insights of the ordinary things most of us recognise.

   Sort of thing where you laugh out loud, look down and realise, hey that's also a knife he stuck in your gut.

   It's a very enjoyable, satisfying book.He uses the serial killer skilfully to give it a wonderful construction.

No comments about In the Shadow of Papillon: Seven Years of Hell in Venezuela's Prison System.

No comments about Journey To Hell: Inside the World's Most Violent Prison System.

5 comments about World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime (Paragon True Crime Library).

1. Nobody can claim as much accomplishment and detriment in the genre of true crime reference books than Jay Robert Nash. Over the course of over forty years and seventy volumes, Nash has repeatedly ripped off consumers by intentionally planting disinformation in his (otherwise exhaustively researched) books in the course of inept attempts to, as he phrases it, "detect any unauthorized use or duplication." As a strong supporter of individual property rights and a copyright enthusiast, I find Mr. Nash's paranoia and greed to be appalling. And in this book, like so many others, his inane tactics yield a reference material littered with inaccuracies.
   
   On the other hand, it's not as though this would be a scholarly resource if Nash were principled. While it's well-organized and quite entertaining, this condensation of Nash's six-volume "Encyclopedia of World Crime" is written in a slightly melodramatic style. Despite its' faults, the scope of this book's content is impressive; it documents a wide variety of individuals, organizations and events in considerable detail.
   
   Unfortunately, this book is also hopelessly outdated. Published in 1993, no mention is made here of the Russian mob that's engaged in massive international criminal affairs to enormous profit since the Soviet Union expired.
   
   If you want to learn about organized crime, read scholarly resources concerning specific phenomena. This book is fun and even informative to a point, and it makes for compulsive reading, but Nash's idea of what constitutes legitimate reference material is just criminal.



2. While its some feat to assemble this amount of information in one boopk, the author never actually goes out to check the accuracy of the data. This causes many factual mistakes to merge. Some are very basic, such as the statement that Jack McGurn was born in Chicago, rather than in Sicily. In a field like this, where errors are commonplace, you need a book that tries to get the truth about personalities and events if its not to be just another myth-spreader. This sadly isn't it.



3. Trying to find a good reference book about organized crime? Want one at a good price? Jay Robert Nash has created the perfect book for you with World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime from De Capo Press.

   The over 600 pages of the Who's Who in organized crime is covered in an A to Z format. From Joe Adonis, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Bugs Moran and so many others, you'll find the fascinating stories and cross-references.

   You may find other books more detailed, but I have found this book to be complete in the overall number of people covered. The book is an easy read and the index makes it easy to look up anybody or any topic.

   You'll be hard pressed to find a better value for your money. About the only thing missing is a cd-rom software application.




4. Truth in advertising? This is solely about the U.S., with a very few token entries on people and place outside it. Nothing on the Triads, nothing on the Golden Triangle, nothing on Marseilles or Hong Kong, nothing on modern international gangs such as the Jamaicans or Nigerians, etc., etc. I returned my copy to Amazon in great disappointment. If you want biographies of some U.S. figures (only some: nothing on Harold Meltzer, for example) with ugly pictures, this might be of some use. But it's solely oriented to personalities, not to analysis



5. I don't think there has to be much explanation here. I've been studying the American Mafia for a couple of years and I have never seen or found such a variety of information. I have movies and books alike and I have to say that this is probably my best investment in any book or movie I own.

3 comments about The Backside of the Helping Hand.

1. Honesty, yet "restrained" insight for the hardworking and oblivious taxpayers of this great nation.
   
   True grit looks into failing attempts of our government social services programs which we blindly and lamely let take our tax dollars!
   
   Hats off, to Mr. Dan Johnson for having the integrity and guts to pen before us, that which we recklessly and fetidly take as status quo.
   
   Two of, among many, down to earth, real world and "time will honor" quotes from Mr. Johnson....
   
   1. "My boss jumped up and yelled, is there a doctor in the house?"
   
   2. "Now maybe a lot of people pick 4:00AM Christmas morning to move--have the kids open their presents in the back of a Ryder moving van, sing Christmas carols en route. Being a cynic, I found it a little bit suspicious"
   
   You will have to search these little gems out on your own. Believe me, it's an informative and humorous ride to the sweet tidbits!
   
   This publication yielded insights which I am still in awe over. After traveling the world for business and pleasure I have found only one thing to be true! We live in the greatest country on this planet, bar none!
   
   I was fortunate to have multiple, insightful and shocking conversations with "Moe" upon traveling the Midwest. I would vote this man into office (should he take it on). This would give a clear message, an insight to educate the taxpayer, politicians and "reset" our country to the principals of which it was built upon.
   
   Mr. Johnson's publication will open your eyes to the dilemmas here in the "Good ole U.S.of A.".
   
   Timothy Curtis PhD.
   Panama City, Florida
   U.S.A.



2. Conservative thinking at its best - and funniest! One of my favorite lines is in the Forward: "We would not need so many foreign workers in this country if we did not have so many people to whom work was foreign." The book looks at people on the public dole in general and does not focus on illegal immigrants, as this sentence implies, but it is a great sample of the pithy nature of the author and the stories he tells.
   
   As a Welfare Caseworker, I can relate to these stories from my own experiences. Don't think that the author exaggerated -my guess is he held back! He is right that we when used to make home visits, it was much easier to spot the fraud. (It was much more dangerous, too! When you are the one that takes the check away, you are not likely to make friends.) These days there are no home visits, and little attention is paid to the veracity of the information given by the Welfare recipient. It seems to me that the general public would be surprised at how much is given away, to whom and for what reasons!
   
   This book is a strikingly honest account of dealing with the "professional poor" as he calls them.



3. Just check out the forward--it grabs you by the throat! And the stories are great. If you like dark humor, this is for you.
   "Have you ever thought about how nice it would be to smash your alarm clock or never hear the factory whistle or the noon bell? To eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired, arise when you're fully rested, and never have to take abuse from customers, co-workers, or your boss? Working class people look forward to this at the end of their lives--the Golden Years. Retirement. Sweet freedom--Social Security, pensions, IRA's; and if they're lucky, savings and investments. All the fruits of a lifetime of labor, if that labor doesn't kill us first.
   The professionally poor in Modern America have it now--only they call it ADC, food stamps, WIC, Medicaid, housing allowances, SSI, utility allowances, and holiday baskets from the church. The fruits of your labor also, and collected from the cradle to the grave."

2 comments about Yesterday in Old Fall River: A Lizzie Borden Companion.

1. If you are fascinated by the Borden case (and apparently many of us are) this is an amazing compilation of biographic information about anyone (even prospective jurors who weren't selected for the jury) linked to the murders and trial. You can dip in and find out about 'Me & Brownie', Hyman Lubinsky, and all the rest, written in an entertaining but informative manner.
   
   I nearly fell out of bed when I read that Lizzie's actress 'friend' Nance O'Neil appeared in the movie 'The Titfield Thunderbolt', one of my favourite British comedies. I'm sorry Mr Hoffman but this was Nancy O'Neil, an Australian actress born in 1911.
   
   I sincerely hope this is the only flaw in what appears to be an otherwise meticulously researched book.



2. When I bought this book, I thought I was buying a history of Fall River, Massachusetts. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's a reference book, comprised of everyone who was ever involved personally in the Lizzie Borden murder case. Bios are listed alphabetically and I can't think of anyone Mr. Hoffman's left out. I gave this book 4 stars because there are some errors here and there, and more photos of those we don't usually see would have been fantastic. Still, it's a good piece of work and fascinating whether you're looking up a person or if you just want to sit and read it cover to cover. Don't miss it before it becomes unavailable, as many Lizzie Borden books do.

No comments about Wanted: The Eyes Have It - Law Enforcement Mug Shots 1880-1922.

No comments about A Murder of Passion: The Astonishing Truth About the Life and Crimes of the Last Woman to be Hanged in Britain (Blake's True Crime Library).

No comments about Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned: True Stories of Women Who Kill.