COVID-19 has struck The Washington County READ
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Michael Morton's Getting Life is still our 2020 READ choice, but we have had to cancel our October reception. In the meantime, the Brenham Library reports that it’s been a popular book for summer reading. Check out your favorite bookstore for a copy, as well.
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For many of us, books give us a lifetime of learning, even while shut-in during a pandemic. But for Michael Morton, reading and learning were a lifeline he held onto while incarcerated. Join with Lifetime Learning and read Getting Life. We think you'll be inspired.
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2020 Washington County READ
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Many avid readers enjoy being transported to faraway places by much loved books. But few stories can match that of Michael Morton, innocent, yet convicted for murder, a man who devoured books while in prison, awaiting an exoneration he wasn’t sure would come.
Morton worked diligently to free himself from a life sentence for the murder of his wife. After his original defense attorney Bill Allison brought the case to the attention of the Innocence Project, Houston pro bono attorney John Raley successfully petitioned for previously withheld evidence to be examined. Morton was exonerated in 2011. He had served 25 years in Texas prisons.
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Studying another place, another time, another world gave me a sense of freedom I found nowhere else in prison. For me, the last measure of freedom was found inside my head. It was my last hiding place, my last means of escape.
Morton’s love of reading and writing propelled him to obtain an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Masters in Literature while incarcerated. The journals he kept became the basis of his memoir Getting Life, which he published in 2014.
Michael Morton’s case thrust him into a limelight he hadn’t sought. The Williamson County prosecutor Ken Anderson, who later became District Judge, was charged with contempt of court for withholding evidence that demonstrated Morton’s innocence. Tragically, this included a witness statement from his four-year-old son: “A monster killed Mommy, not Daddy.”
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In an exceedingly rare circumstance, Judge Ken Anderson was charged with contempt of court to which he pleaded guilty. He was stripped of his law license and judgeship, but expressed little remorse and served only five days in jail. Keen to prevent future wrongful convictions, the Texas Legislature unanimously passed the Michael Morton Act in 2013. Prosecutors in all Texas counties are now required to turn over any evidence, material or not, to defense counsels
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I felt like I was doing time with Mark Twain, sharing a cell with John Steinbeck, and sitting in a day room with Kurt Vonnegut and John Irving. They had all become my friends—men I could count on to keep me distracted at night and entertained in the lonely hours . . .
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Morton’s wife and his freedom weren’t the only things taken from him. The investigation and trial wrenched away the opportunity for him to grieve his wife’s death with loving family by his side and his incarceration robbed him of his relationship with his young son. Morton eventually made peace with these injustices. He remarried and presently lives a tranquil life in East Texas. He enjoys a renewed relationship with his son, and now daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. He loves to fish on a nearby lake. He is grateful for life.
A book review:
This review of Getting Life is presented by Lifetime Learning member Shirley Herring, this video can be viewed in a larger format on YouTube.
Also available online:
The Innocence Files . . . a documentary on Netflix that provides more information about the Innocence Project responsible for finally freeing Michael Morton.
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Help spread the message about the READ by making a tax deductible donation:
Getting Life is available at The Book Nook in Brenham. Order online or call 979-836-7323, for curbside pick-up or delivery by mail.
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Previous Community Reads:
2019: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer 2018: The Train to Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell 2017: News of the World by Paulette Jiles 2016: City of Refuge by Tom Piazza 2015: My Boys and Girls Are in There by Ron Rozelle 2014: One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni 2013: The Personal History of Rachel Dupree by Ann Weisgarber 2012: The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton 2011: One Ranger: A Memoir by H. Joaquin Jackson and David Marion Wilkinson 2010: Twelve Mighty Orphans by Jim Dent 2009: Final Salute by Jim Sheeler |