Emma Bland Smith - The Gardener of Alcatraz: A True Story

I would like to thank the following people for helping me with the research:
Shelagh Fritz, Michael Esslinger, Corrina Gould, Gerry Wright, and Adrian Baker.E. B. S.

Text copyright 2022 by Emma Bland Smith
Illustrations copyright 2022 by Jenn Ely
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part
in any form. Charlesbridge and colophon are registered trademarks of
Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.

At the time of publication, all URLs printed in this book were accurate and
active. Charlesbridge, the author, and the illustrator are not responsible for
the content or accessibility of any website.

Published by Charlesbridge
9 Galen Street, Watertown, MA 02472 (617) 926-0329
www.charlesbridge.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Smith, Emma Bland, author. | Ely, Jenn (Jennifer Kristin), 1983 illustrator.
Title: The gardener of Alcatraz: a true story / Emma Bland Smith; illustrated by Jenn Ely.

Description: Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2022. | Audience: Ages 710. |
Audience: Grades 23. | Summary: When prisoner Elliott Michener began
tending the gardens at Alcatraz, his thoughts of escape were replaced with new
skills and a sense of dignity. Back matter discusses the history of Alcatraz and
the US prison system today.Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020052037 (print) | LCCN 2020052038 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781623541606 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781632899453 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Michener, Elliott | United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island,
CaliforniaBiographyJuvenile literature. | PrisonersUnited States
BiographyJuvenile literature. | GardenersCaliforniaAlcatraz Island
BiographyJuvenile literature. | GardensCaliforniaAlcatraz Island
Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC HV9474.A53 S65 2022 (print) | LCC HV9474.A53 (ebook) |
DDC 364.1092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020052037

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020052038

Printed in China
(hc) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Illustrations done in gouache and digital

Display font set in Din Slab Serif by Sandra Winter, Tom Grace, and Akira Kobayashi

Text type set in Futura by Paul Renner and Minion Pro Condensed by Robert Slimbach

Color separations and printing by 1010 Printing International Limited in Huizhou,
Guangdong, China

Production supervision by Jennifer Most Delaney

Designed by Cathleen Schaad

The boat chugged out of San Francisco and into the bay.
Sound nice? It wasnt. This was no pleasure outing, let me tell you.

Gulls squawked. A foghorn moaned. And Elliott Michener,
prisoner #AZ-578, stared into the fierce wind. Ahead loomed
an island topped with a concrete fortress, watchtowers, and
barbed wire.

Alcatraz.
The toughest prison in the country.

As the twenty new inmates marched off the boat,
Elliott felt full of dread. How had things gone so wrong?

Five years ago, hed had life figured out, printing counterfeit
money. But making fake money was a crime. Hed been sent to the
slammerfirst in Kansas, now here, at Alcatraz.

Surrounded by water and steel bars, Elliott saw nothing but gray.

There was no way he was
staying here. Hed bust out and
go back to counterfeiting or
maybe rob a bank.

Sure, security was tight on
Alcatraz. No prisoner had ever
managed to escape.

But Elliott was smart. Maybe
hed be the exception.

As the days crawled by, he lay low. He endured the no-talking
rules. He avoided the riots. He performed his dreary job, scouring the
ground for handballs that had been knocked over the rec yard wall.

Make no mistake: it was a tedious life.

Until the day when, so they say, Elliott stumbled across something
that was most definitely not a handball.

A key.

Elliott could have kept the key, tried it in every gate on the island.
Why didnt he? Between you and me, he was probably scheming.
He figured that if he did something honest, something you might not
expect from a prisoner, it could pay off.

So instead, he handed over that key.
And our story takes a turn.

Because, see, it just so happened that the big bosses on
Alcatraz were looking for an inmate to help with the gardens,
which sorely needed attention. Of course, it couldnt be just
anyone. It had to be someone honest, someone they could trust
with a little extra independence. Someone who would, say,
turn in a key.

Elliott got the job.

Now, Elliott didnt know a darn thing about plants. But he figured
this job had to be better than picking up handballs.

His first task was breaking up the soil on the islands west side
and creating terraces. He threw himself into it.

Gardening wasnt half bad.
It was hard, satisfying work.
Elliott decided he might as well
get good at it.

Whats more, this job could
be his ticket to freedom. The
gardens were outside the prison
walls. Elliott found a quiet spot
where the guards couldnt see
him and started building a
contraption that he hoped would
allow him to swim to shore.

Once he was tinkering with some rubber tubing when a guard
surprised him. Elliott croaked something about it being a sprinkling
device. The guard swallowed the story hook, line, and sinker. Phew.

Elliott finished the terraces. He learned which plants went where,
and how much to water them. He was too busy to focus on his
flotation device.

As time passed, a funny thing happened. This gardening thing
started to grow on him. He studied seed packets and books from
the prison library. He built a greenhouse and tried out composting.
He even created his own narcissus hybrid.

Elliott Michener planted every square inch of the island that he could!

Color spread from outdoors
to in. Prisoners picked flowers to
put in their water glasses.

To get supplies, Elliott would
talk a guard into buying him
seeds or bulbs in the city. In
exchange Elliott would slip the
guard some flowers for his wife.

Elliott didnt think much about
escaping anymore.

Seven years passed. By now Elliott had gotten such a good
reputation that he was promoted to work for Warden Swope and his
wife in their home. Swell!

His official job was keeping
the house tidy and cooking the
meals. But in his free time, he
kept on gardening. This jailbird,
you see, had grown an honest
to-goodness green thumb.

Mrs. Swope liked gardens, too. The dignified lady and the
tough Alcatraz inmate became friends. She loved roses, and he
was happy to grow them for her.

The two unlikely friends listened
to the radio together, and they
both enjoyed horse racing. They
followed the races and cheered for
their favorites. On Elliotts birthday
Mrs. Swope gave him a new pair
of shoes.

After a while Elliott was taking
care of the house for days at a
time when the Swopes went away.
They trusted him and treated him
like a person, and that made life
on Alcatraz bearable.

The island had changed in the nine years since Elliott had arrived.

The gray was gone. In its place was green. And other colors!
Pink snapdragons. Red geraniums. Purple iris.

Elliott, too, had changed. He knew sedum from sage and dahlias
from daffodils. He also had passion, pride, and solid skills. He could see
a colorful future for himselfone that didnt involve breaking the law.

And here is where our story takes another turn. One morning
Elliott got some unexpected news.

He was leaving Alcatraz! He was going to Leavenworth, a