I personally knew many of the famous and not-so-famous inmates who served time on The Rock. I helped my friends John Anglin and Frankie Morris to acquire some of the essential tools that they used in their famed escape attempt (later portrayed in the motion picture Escape from Alcatrazstarring Clint Eastwood) and I would dream like so many others of someday making my own escape.
A long time has passed since I last heard the frequent clashing of steel gates, and the prison guards calling out their counts. Even still, I remain a marked man. One cannot survive such a profound experience and expect to emerge unaffected. When Alcatraz finally closed in 1963, I was one of the last inmates to step off the island and it was then that I started my long journey back to freedom. In 1972, after serving nearly fifteen years in the federal prison system, I made my way back into society with a newfound spirit and outlook. I earned my way to a respectable career, was a proud foster parent to ninety-four beautiful children, and wrote a successful book entitled Alcatraz - The True End of the Line.
I think you will enjoy reading Michael’s book. Through meticulous research, he has captured the experience of Alcatraz with an authentic voice. It is a skillful blend of history and character study, and a compelling portrait of America’s most notorious prison.
Over the years, I have returned to the island on various occasions to share my experiences with inquisitive visitors. I sometimes return to my old cell and think of that young man lying on his bunk, dreaming of this day. As Richard Nixon once said: “...only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain...”
Darwin E. Coon, AZ-1422
Former Inmate, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary
Dedication
Philip R. Bergen
“Lieutenant Bergen was a tall, square jawed, handsome man who looked as if he could have been the hero of every Saturday movie serial ever made. He had cool direct eyes and a natural fearlessness. On Alcatraz, he was a “high-risk” guard. He was a daredevil who thought nothing of plunging head-first into danger. In addition he was a deadly shot...”
This is how Clark Howard described Philip Bergen in his brilliant novel Six Against the Rock. Bergen is also depicted in classic novel Birdman of AlcatrazbyThomas E. Gaddis and he appears in numerous and films other books. When I asked Bergen which character depiction he found most accurate, he simply replied: “Well... the birds were very well written don’t you think?”
I doubt that I will ever forget the time I first handed over my “completed” manuscript to Bergen, former Captain of the Guard at Alcatraz. He had spent sixteen years working and living on the island and had raised his two daughters on “the Rock”. I had spent several years conducting exhaustive research and I was quite pleased to hand him what I considered to be the final version of this book. A few weeks later I called Phil to get his opinion of the content and to see if he had any last minute recommendations. He stated in a very matter-of-fact tone: “Sure, rewrite the whole thing or make sure that it is marked fiction.”
Over the next eighteen months I recommenced my long journey, heading back to the archives, cross-checking references against archival records, conducting additional interviews, attending lectures, and even going out with County staff (in the rain and mud) to verify the unmarked burial sites of a few deceased inmates. Thus while Bergen did not have any formal connection to my book, his mark remains obvious. Even when the perspectives presented were not favorable to him, he pushed me to become an objective listener and then to document what I had heard, rather than trying to interpret. That was the theme of his contribution and with that said, it has been a long and extraordinary journey.
Well into his nineties, Phil Bergen remained an Alcatraz aficionado. I attended several Alcatraz reunions and would watch in amazement as Phil rattled off names of people he hadn’t seen in over fifty years. His ability to recount specific events and their chronologies was phenomenal. Phil Bergen represents only one of the many voices of those that lived the Alcatraz experience – but his was a very prominent and authoritative voice. Getting to know Phil was a rare privilege and I feel blessed that he was able to read and comment on all but the final two chapters. Although he has passed, his voice has not been silenced.
Thank you Phil, for helping me to see Alcatraz through your eyes and leaving behind such a remarkable legacy.
Preface
My first introduction to Alcatraz came at a very young age, during a visit to San Francisco with my parents in the late 1970’s. Just as thousands of others had done before me, I peered in wonderment from across the Bay at the small and forbidding island known as “the Rock.” I had seen the books that lined the sidewalks of Fisherman’s Wharf, illustrated with the faces of hardened convicts and vintage photographs, all indicating that the island prison was a kind of living hell. My parents were generous enough to purchase a few of these books for me and I was destined to immerse myself into this fascinating history. As we walked along the pier of Fisherman’s Wharf, I sneaked a few quick peeks into my shopping bag, hoping to catch brief glimpses of the inmates and prison photos. I knew that there were no longer any prisoners residing on the island, but to a young and curious mind, there was still something intriguing and mysterious about it all.
After reading my books from cover-to-cover, I began plotting my first visit to the island. I had prepared for my excursion by studying the various escape attempts, the lives of former inmates such as Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly and the chilling personal accounts of these and others that that were said to be the “rogues of society.” During the first years when the island was open to the public, National Parks Service employees guided all of the visitor tours. As we hiked up the steep path to the cellhouse, I remember the stillness of the surroundings, broken only by the occasional screeches of passing seagulls. The misted smell of the ocean was thick and almost tropic. As the ranger guided us past the dimly lit cells, I lagged behind, blending into the shadows, absorbed by the incredible history of the now abandoned prison.
The highlight of my trip was meeting a former inmate who had come to the island to talk with visitors and to describe the eighteen years during which he had lived on “the Rock” as inmate #AZ-714. Clarence Carnes had been involved in a disastrous attempt at armed robbery at only fifteen. When a gas station attendant challenged Carnes and fought to disarm him, the young delinquent pulled the trigger and changed his life’s destiny in a matter of only seconds. Carnes was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder and he arrived on Alcatraz at the young age of only eighteen. One year later he participated in what would be considered the island’s most significant and catastrophic escape attempt, which would ultimately result in five tragic deaths. For his role in the escape and the murder of a correctional officer by a co-conspirator, Carnes received an additional ninety-nine years which was added to the life sentence he was already serving. His codefendants would receive the death penalty, and would later be executed sitting side-by-side in San Quentin’s gas chamber. He would therefore spend the vast majority of his life behind bars.
Seeing Carnes in person, I was amazed at how much he had changed since his arrival mug shot photos on Alcatraz were taken. As I asked questions, his responses were terse and consistently evasive. He would respond by showing our group where an incident occurred, but avoided any details. He would simply nod as the National Park Ranger highlighted historical details and then would look away. I was also intrigued by his claim that despite nearly two decades on Alcatraz, there were still areas he hadn’t seen within the prison confines. He was soft-spoken and articulate. His hard looks had evolved into soft rounded features and he certainly didn’t resemble the cold-blooded criminal that I had read about.