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Alcatraz_ A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years - Michael Esslinger [209]

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in a screenplay, which was later produced as a made-for-television movie entitled Alcatraz – The Whole Shocking Story. Carnes worked as a consultant on the production, and a fellow inmate reported that he was paid $20,000 for the story. Carnes lived a short interlude of luxury and fame, which in the end would lead him only to a harder fall. He spent a brief period back at Alcatraz after it was opened as a national park, meeting with the public and talking about his experiences. The movie aired on the NBC Television Network on November 5-6 in 1980, featuring some of Hollywood’s most accomplished actors, including Academy Award winner Art Carney in the role of Robert Stroud. But when the money from the film finally ran out, Carnes found himself homeless on the streets of Missouri. He suffered from ill health, and eventually found his way back to prison after purposely violating parole in order to get off the streets. He died in 1988 at the Springfield Facility at the age of sixty-one. His story would again be told in another made-for-television special, based on the book Six Against the Rock by Clark Howard. The feature presentation was aired on NBC-TV, on May 18, 1987.

Ed Miller retired less than a year after the incident, and moved back to Leavenworth, where he had begun his career with the Bureau of Prisons. He died in March of 1967 at age seventy-seven. Robert Baker finished out his career at Alcatraz and later retired to Napa, California, in the heart of the wine country; he died in March of 1978 at age sixty-seven. Robert Bristow took a custodian job for a school district in Sacramento, where he lived throughout his retirement. Ernest Lageson became a schoolteacher in nearby Pittsburg, California, and died tragically of cancer at the young age of forty-two. Lieutenant Joe Simpson died on January 31, 1960, and was buried at Fort Leavenworth.

Cecil D. Corwin recovered from his wounds, and returned to work in the prison system. He continued to have medical problems as a result of his injuries, including blindness in his left eye, and was declared permanently disabled in May of 1948. Cecil and his wife Catheryn moved to Stockton, California, where he undertook studies in psychiatry. He later moved to Pomona, California, and worked as a psychiatric technician for the remainder of his career. He retired to Long Beach, California, and suffered a fatal heart attack in July of 1967. Joe Burdett retired to Woodland, California, and died in October of 1983 at age eighty-seven. Carl W. Sundstrom retired to Alameda, California, directly across the Bay from Alcatraz, and died in March of 1973 at age sixty-seven. Irving Levinson retired to Lake Ellsinore in Southern California, and died in 2002. Officer Elmus Besk remained in San Francisco following his career at Alcatraz, and passed away at the age of sixty-one, before reaching his retirement, in March of 1972. Ed Stucker remained in the Bay Area and retired to Palo Alto, California; he died on March 11, 1990, at age eighty-six. Isaac Faulk also remained in the Bay Area following his departure from Alcatraz, and sought other employment opportunities. He retired to Novato, California, and died in December of 1986 at age eighty-seven.

Henry H. Weinhold was classified as permanently disabled due to his injuries, and lived out his retirement across the Bay from Alcatraz in Marin; he died in April of 1967 at age seventy-six. Bert A. Burch moved to Arizona and retired in Coconino; he died in November of 1974 at seventy-three. Emil Rychner remained in San Francisco following his long career on The Rock and passed away in January of 1980 at age eighty-six. San Quentin Warden Clinton Duffy retired and successfully authored two books about his life as the Warden of San Quentin. Duffy and his wife Gladys retired to Walnut Creek, California, where he died in October of 1982 at eighty-four. Cretzer’s brother-in-law Arnold Kyle was paroled in his senior years and died in November of 1980 in Lynnwood, Washington at age seventy-one.

After a lifetime of rebellion, James Quillen changed course

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