In this memoir, Archie Floyd recounts the many challenges of his life, the companionships that gave him hope, and his experience as a black man in the American criminal justice system. Archie grew up in Ohio in the late 1950's not knowing his mother and with little support from his father, siblings and other family. Lacking in guidance and wanting material goods, Archie developed a habit of theft and drugs. His behaviors landed him in jail as a teenager. After his release, he eventually returned to stealing and became ...
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In this memoir, Archie Floyd recounts the many challenges of his life, the companionships that gave him hope, and his experience as a black man in the American criminal justice system. Archie grew up in Ohio in the late 1950's not knowing his mother and with little support from his father, siblings and other family. Lacking in guidance and wanting material goods, Archie developed a habit of theft and drugs. His behaviors landed him in jail as a teenager. After his release, he eventually returned to stealing and became addicted to crack. He spent his entire adult life in and out of prison, as he never managed to stay clean while on parole. In 1986, while in prison, he discovered a personal ad in the Sunday edition of the Toledo Blade. The ad was from a Christian man seeking a female romantic partner. In an act of desperation, Archie laid bare his vulnerabilities and his hopelessness. His reply begged, "You sound like a good Christian man. Do you care?" The man replied, "Of course I care." This exchange started a 20 year friendship between Archie and this man. They quickly took on a father-son relationship with Archie calling the man "Dad." Their close bond was a key part of both of their lives that them the companionship they both needed. The man wrote that ad is John "Jack" Kranz-my father's father's brother. Two years ago I reconnected with him and he told me about his friendship with Archie. He also told me that Archie had written a 45,000 word memoir that was never published. Considering that Archie died in 2006, leaving no heirs, and considering that as my Grand Uncle Jack is in his nineties with no heirs himself, I worried that Archie's story might be lost forever. So, I published Archie's story including a foreword describing how I found Archie's story, and with an afterword that tells the rest of Archie's story-from the completion of his manuscript in 1992 to his death fourteen years later.
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