THE ROCK BY THE BOOK
Alcatraz fired up many an author’s urge
WHEN ALCATRAZ ISLAND
began serving time as a federal prison in the 1930s, its inmates lived in complete isolation from the free world, tamed under a “rule of silence,” not even allowed to listen to the radio until about the 1950s and forever taunted by the glittering lights of San Francisco just beyond reach.
“They had to rely on new guys coming in to hear anything about outside life,” says Michael Esslinger, author of several books on the prison, including “Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years.”
“It was pure isolation,” he says. “It was like time stood still for them.”
Hmm, sound familiar?
For sure, during the COVID-19 crisis, the outside world has been isolated from Alcatraz and every
other major tourist attraction. That’ll change, of course, so while you’re planning for a future visit, you might read up on it for a fuller picture of The Rock. This activity will keep you busy, since there are volumes of literature — nonfiction and fiction and everything in between — written by historians, novelists, former guards and their families and even former inmates. Not to mention the countless documentaries, motion pictures and great-escape conspiracy theories galore.
Since the one-time home of “Machine Gun” Kelly and Al Capone was turned over to the National Park Service in 1972, Alcatraz has been a hot tourist attraction, seeing about 1.3 million visitors during a normal year.
So what makes Alcatraz so intriguing, more so than other notorious prisons? We checked in with a few authors to get their take on the ongoing allure. Jolene Babyak blames Hollywood. “One big reason is obviously the movies, like ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’ with Burt Lancaster or Clint Eastwood in ‘Escape from Alcatraz,” says Babyak, who, as the daughter of a former guard, spent her childhood on the island and has written numerous books, including “Breaking the Rock: The Great Escape from Alcatraz.”
“I typically go out to the island several days a month to do book signings, and people come from all over the world,” she says. “I’ll talk to someone from someplace as far away as Eritrea, and they’ve all seen the movies.”
During Babyak’s research over the years, interviewing other families, former inmates and guards, she discovered some surprises. For one, the prisoners were not all
mastermind villains.
“Yes, you had Al Capone and Alvin ‘Creepy’ Karpis and Robert Stroud, the Birdman. Alcatraz had this reputation of being the end of the line for the country’s most incorrigible criminals,” she says. “And yes, there were some who had committed horrific crimes, but most men who were sent there were just troubled kids from troubled families who started by stealing cars and worked their way up. There was a lot of mental illness, too, much like prison populations today.”
Esslinger says Alcatraz was unique in part because it had the smallest inmate population in the federal penitentiary system. “One of the big myths is that it was a horrific place to serve time, but being smaller, things were easier to manage than at other prisons with thousands of inmates, like Leavenworth,” he says. “For the day-today operations, most inmates I’ve interviewed said it wasn’t that bad. The food was good. The relationships between the officers and inmates was fairly respectful.
“It wasn’t an easy life — the isolation, the very regimented routine,” he says. “The sheer torture was seeing San Francisco so close, but so far away. But for the most part, there wasn’t the sense of hatred after leaving.”
Indeed, not only is the public steadily enthralled with Alcatraz, but former guards, their families and even former inmates keep coming back. For decades, the Alcatraz Alumni Association has brought these groups together. But because of dwindling numbers, the last official gathering was held in August of 2018.
Former guard George Devincenzi, now in his 90s, attended that last event. “We were all a close-knit group,” he says of his days on the Rock in the 1950s. “We worked together on that small compact island. It was almost like family. And I knew some of the inmates very well. I used to play checkers with Robert Stroud (Birdman) at 3 or 4 in the morning. That was strictly against the rules, but I don’t think I’ll get in too much trouble for it now.”
His book, “Murders on Alcatraz,” recalls a couple of decidedly non-routine, grisly incidents, including one that happened during the first hour of his first day on the job. “My first day, and there’s a murder. That intrigues people,” he says. “Even today I get letters once or twice a week, from people all over the world asking me for my autograph.”
Of course, Alcatraz was and is more than just a prison. Its layers of history go back to Native Americans gathering eggs from the many waterfowl that nested there. It was the site of the first lighthouse on the West Coast, built in 1854. It was a harbor defense port and military prison during the Civil War years. And the American Indian Occupation took over from 1969 to 1971, making a political stand. It’s still home to 30 species of birds, drawing birdwatchers from far and wide.
Author Claire Rudolf Murphy covers all of that in her book, “The Children of Alcatraz: Growing Up on the Rock,” a photo essay aimed at younger readers that describes the kids — the children of guards and other prison staff — who lived there.
“I think Alcatraz really parallels the history of California,” she says. “It was a navigation marker for ships entering the bay during the Gold Rush. The island has been home to the children of Native Americans, lighthouse keepers, military soldiers and prison guards. During the prison years, it was so well-guarded, kids had the run of the island. They’d take the boat to go to school in San Francisco, but there were dances on the island, clubs. Even though Al Capone was your neighbor, kids would go buy their popsicles at the commissary like you would at the 7-Eleven. It has such a long history besides the prison.”
Esslinger agrees. “The magic is, you can read a lot about the history of the island, and, when you go, there are so many golden nuggets of history to find,” he says. “The old citadel structure actually had a drawbridge to a dry moat, and even today, you can see the wheel pulleys from the 1850s. If you look up to the upper tiers of the cell block, you see the original paint just as it was back in the day.
“There are so many stories still to tell,” he says. “I’m still totally enthralled by the history of Alcatraz.”