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Thomas Silverstein, Hot House convict

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Before I began writing about the need for mental health care reform, most visitors came to my webpage to read about Thomas Silverstein, a major character in my book, The Hot House. 
 He has been held in solitary confinement since 1983 — the longest any convict has been kept isolated by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
About once a year, I get a telephone call from a reporter from some national news organization asking about him. A couple of weeks ago it was CNN Writer/Producer Stephanie Chen seeking an interview.
I used to talk about Tommy, but not anymore.Click to continue…

Similar Disorders?

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Between 1987 and 1989, I spent time inside the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, doing research for my second book: The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Penitentiary.
I was given free reign to come-and-go as I pleased. I could interview any Bureau of Prison (BOP) employee or federal prisoner who was willing to speak to me. As you might imagine spending time inside a maximum security prison, even as a visitor, has a dramatic impact on your life.
I remember seeing two inmates attack each other one day. One had a “shank” – a homemade knife – and he stabbed another inmate several times before a completely unarmed BOP lieutenant drove in and separated the two men. The raw imagine of that bloody violence and the courage of that lieutenant stayed with me for a long time.Click to continue…

Do Publishers Owe Us More?

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I’ve been writing books full-time since 1986 and, believe me, I know that publishing books is a business. I also realize that publishers have to give the public what it wants. (Recently that has been love struck vampires and young English magicians.) I admire authors who can write books that reach so many millions.

But as authors and publishers do we have an obligation to go beyond the profit line and expose wrongs, introduce new ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and confront the afflicted and afflict the comfortable?

Click to continue…