Norman Mailer advocated for Jack Henry Abbott's release, believing in his literary talent after exchanging letters with him
Abbott was paroled in 1981 but killed a waiter six weeks later, prompting a two-month manhunt before his capture
Abbott's prison memoir, In the Belly of the Beast, became a bestseller despite his violent history and life sentence
Norman Mailer played a role in getting Jack Henry Abbott released from prison on parole in June 1981, only for the felon to commit another crime just months later.
Mailer was a writer, journalist and filmmaker whose career included 11 best-selling books, including The Armies of the Night, which won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction as well as the National Book Award. Abbott, meanwhile, spent most of his childhood in reform schools and juvenile centers before being convicted of forgery as a teenager and later killing a fellow inmate in 1966.
#jack #prison #belly
Abbott was paroled in 1981 but killed a waiter six weeks later, prompting a two-month manhunt before his capture
Abbott's prison memoir, In the Belly of the Beast, became a bestseller despite his violent history and life sentence
Norman Mailer played a role in getting Jack Henry Abbott released from prison on parole in June 1981, only for the felon to commit another crime just months later.
Mailer was a writer, journalist and filmmaker whose career included 11 best-selling books, including The Armies of the Night, which won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction as well as the National Book Award. Abbott, meanwhile, spent most of his childhood in reform schools and juvenile centers before being convicted of forgery as a teenager and later killing a fellow inmate in 1966.
#jack #prison #belly
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