Committing Journalism

Committing Journalism collects more than fifty essays by famed convict-writer Dannie Martin, a.k.a. “Red Hog” —hard-hitting, eloquent reports on the racism, brutality, inadequate health care, harassment, and other conditions of life behind the prison walls. When they first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle they made Martin a celebrity—and eventually the Bureau of Prisons tried to silence him. Peter Sussman, Martin’s editor at the Chronicle, interweaves the story of their struggle, their collaboration, and their friendship. The result is a work of irrefutable witness, a gripping narrative, a book that gives a human face to America’s swelling prison population.