This book would not have been possible without the help of so many people who have generously shared details of their lives growing up on Alcatraz Island. Most especially I would like to thank Chuck Stucker and his lovely wife, Leta, who allowed me to park in their living room for days on end combing the amazing Alcatraz archives Chuck has compiled. I would also like to thank George DeVincenzi, who told me so many crisp and colorful stories about his life as a guard on Alcatraz Island. A debt of gratitude goes to Rocky Chandler for his book Alcatraz , the Hard Years and for allowing me to “shake the hand that shook the hand of Al Capone.” I am also grateful for the help of Jolene Babyak, Sharon Haller, Ed Faulk, Phyllis “Sweetie” Hess Twinney, and the late Clifford Fish, whose stories about his twenty-four years working as a guard on Alcatraz -as videotaped by Chuck Stucker-were truly amazing. I would also like to thank Darwin Coons, ex-bank robber, for answering my questions about what it was like behind bars on Alcatraz.
A special thank you to my team of expert readers: Peter Seraichick, Dr. Douglas Ellison, Dr. Shelley Hwang, Chuck Stucker, Michael Esslinger, Phyllis “Sweetie” Hess Twinney. They all provided me with expertise I don’t possess, but all mistakes are definitely mine and mine alone.
A heartfelt thanks to my husband, Jacob, my son, Ian, and my daughter, Kai: the world’s best family, and my editor, Kathy Dawson. Editing me is sort of like trying to put a seat belt on the Energizer Bunny and Kathy always manages to make it look effortless. I would like to thank Betsy Groban, Jen Haller, Lauri Hornik, and my agent, Elizabeth Harding, of Curtis, Brown for their graciousness in all things.
And most of all I would like to thank the many many teachers in the United States and in the United Kingdom who have taught Al Capone Does My Shirts in their classrooms. It is your work that has brought my book to life for your students and I will always be indebted to you.