Carroll Pickett - Within These Walls: Memoirs of a Death House Chaplain

Memoirs of a Death House Chaplain

By Rev. Carroll Pickett with Carlton Stowers

A Gordian Knot True Crime Novel

Gordian Knot is an imprint of Crossroad Press

Digital Edition published by Crossroad Press

Digital Edition Copyright 2017 Carlton Stowers

Original publication by St. Martins Press May, 2002

Cover image courtesy of C.K. Hartman

Used per the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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Among the 40 books authored by Carlton Stowers are TO THE LAST BREATH and CARELESS WHISPERS, both winners of the Mystery Writers of Americas Edgar Allen Poe Award as the Best Fact Crime Book of the Year, SCREAM AT THE SKY, INNOCENCE LOST, OPEN SECRETS and his autobiographical SINS OF THE SON.

Stowers books have been selections of the Book of the Month Club, Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Book Club, True Crime Book Club, Preferred Choice Book Club, Playboy Book Club, Military Book Club and Guideposts Book Club and five have been optioned by motion picture/TV production companies. CARELESS WHISPERS inspired the CBS Movie of the Week, Sworn to Vengeance, and OPEN SECRETS was the basis for the ABC mini-series, "Telling Secrets." TO THE LAST BREATH was included in Readers Digests prestigious TODAYS BEST NON FICTION anthology and his writings have been translated into German, French, Japanese, Swedish, Dutch, Afrikaans and Spanish.

He has also authored or co-authored a number of books on sports, ranging from MARCUS, the autobiography of NFL standout Marcus Allen that spent six weeks on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list, to DALLAS COWBOYS: THE FIRST 25 YEARS, which reached No.1 on the Dallas Morning News bestseller list. An article he wrote on football in a small Texas town was selected for inclusion in the 2004 BEST AMERICAN SPORTS WRITING anthology and evolved into his book, WHERE DREAMS DIE HARD, which Morning News columnist Judy Alter ranked as one of the Ten All-Time Best Books on Texas.

As a collaborator, he has written books with western movie icons Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (HAPPY TRAILS), Olympic pole vaulter Billy Olsen (REACHING HIGHER), former FBI Special Agent Larry Wansley (FBI UNDERCOVER), teacher Trent Jones (WHERE THE RAINBOWS WAIT) and private investigator William Dear (PLEASE DONT KILL ME). WITHIN THESE WALLS, written with former Texas prison chaplain Rev. Carroll Pickett, was the winner of the Texas Writers Leagues 2002 Violet Crown Award as the years Best Book of Texas Non-Fiction and a finalist for the PEN Southwest Literary Non-Fiction Book Award. Stowers PARTNERS IN BLUE, a 100-year history of the Dallas Police Department, received a 1984 citation from the Dallas Police Association.

He has written non-fiction childrens books, A HERO NAMED GEORGE and HARD LESSONS, which have been used by numerous elementary schools in their antidrug and anti-gang programs. His most recent childrens book, STRENGTH OF THE HEART, was co-authored with Marcus Allen.

His COMANCHE TRAIL, was named a finalist for both the Western Fictioneers and Texas Institute of Letters Best First Novel awards in 2015.

Stowers articles have appeared in such publications as Sports Illustrated, TV Guide, Time, People, Parade, Good Housekeeping, American Way, Boys Life, the New York Times and Paris Match. DEATH IN A TEXAS DESERT, a collection of crime stories he wrote for the Dallas Observer was published in 2003.

ON TEXAS BACKROADS, a collection of essays written for American Way magazine, the New York Times, etc., was published in 2016.

Before turning to freelance writing, Stowers worked for several Texas newspapers, spending the last 12 years of his career with the Dallas Morning News.

He has earned numerous national and state awards for his journalism. A 17-time finalist in the annual five-state Dallas Press Club competition, he won eight Katie Awards. He is a four-time winner of the Stephen Philbin Award given by the Dallas Bar Association and has received a Texas Gavel Award from the State Bar of Texas for Outstanding Legal Reporting. He has earned a Community Action Network Media Award for Exceptional Merit, was a finalist for the Eugene Pullian Journalism Writing Award, has received seven Lone Star Awards from the Houston Press Club, and has been cited by the Texas Headliners Club, Associated Press Managing Editors Association, the UPI Editors Association, Texas Sportswriters Association, Western Media Publishing Association, the APEX Awards, North American Travel Journalists Association, Content Marketing Awards and the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Communicators. CARELESS WHISPERS received the 1987 Best Book of the Year Oppie Award in the Reporting category.

In 1997 Stowers was honored as Author of the Year by the Friends of the Duncanville Library and in 2001 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. He is the recipient of the A.C. Greene Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Best Southwest Bookfest Distinguished Author Award.

In 2010 he was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame and in 2011 was inducted into the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame and named by the Press Club of Dallas as one of the Living Legends of North Texas Journalism.

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To those who have done acts of goodness without knowing it, been there when needed without being asked, and said the words that needed saying without being coached or coerced.

To my children

Karel, Anne, Steve, and Charlottewho have chosen special times to do special things. Each is remarkable in ways I cherish and deeply appreciate.

To my wife, Jane, who came into my stressful life and proved to me that it is not good for man to live alone. And to her childrenKelley, Stacy, and Jodywho have blessed my life.