“Studying century-old family photographs,
chipped, stained, faded memories
of grandparents — children held by great-grandparents —
silently staring at me, unblinking.
I feel they strive to
speak to me,
to tell me stories of their childhoods,
lost and mostly forgotten.
Would that I could cross the ether barrier…to ask…”
Christmas, 2016
Dear Friends,
So began 2016 for us, with the quote
above from Charlie’s poem, “Chain Links,”
a year of the family, perhaps. January began with the Norman family mourning
the loss of Sandy Norman, our sister-in-law, brother Dan’s wife, who passed
away the last week of 2015 from a long illness. Then again, in March, we dealt
with the blow of the unexpected death of our youngest brother, Tom Norman, who died
in his sleep. It has been a special blessing this year through all these heartaches
that Charlie has been able to talk with family members by phone.
April
marked Charlie’s 38th year of imprisonment, and in September, he
turned 67 years old.
On Saturday, April 30, Charlie’s
mother, Lucille, and Aunt Alice Walker, drove from Tampa
to Lake City for a surprise visit, their first
since our 2014 wedding. We shared a wonderful few hours together in the
visiting park before tearful hugs and goodbyes.
On Sunday, June 26, Charlie’s
long-time friend, Gary Smigiel, and two of his lovely, talented daughters,
Adrianna and Daniella, made the long drive from South
Florida to spend the day with us. Over the years, we have watched
Adrianna and Daniella grow from darling little girls to delightful, poised
young women before our eyes. Gary
continues to be a source of strong encouragement and support for us. We are
thankful every day for loved ones who make the effort to keep supporting and
visiting us.
On
the creative side, in May, for our second wedding anniversary, Libby, with the
help of our cat, Suzy Q, put together a small book of photographs and collected
quotes about love and gardening as a gift for Charlie. Charlie’s latest
creative endeavor is a new pen-and-ink drawing series of cartoons called, “Cats
In Prison.” The series is rather satirical, and very witty, on many levels. He
also continues drawing his beautiful portraits and wildlife in colored pencil
and graphite, which Libby pairs with his poems and prints as note/greeting
cards to send to friends and family. We are both pleased with the results.
These activities provided an enjoyable break from parole hearing preparations.
Charlie’s poem, “Sedimentary,” was published in the
prestigious anthology, “PEN AMERICA, A Journal For Writers And Readers, #19
HAUNTINGS,” by the PEN America
Center, New York, in
June. We were honored in July when an excellent new publication from XfelonINK,
by Suza Lambert Bowser in California,
published a poem, “In The Prison Of My
Rejection,” and essay, “Something
Happened In Prison Yesterday,” and three drawings of Charlie’s in their
Spring/Summer 2016 edition. www.xfelonink.com,
Another published poem was nominated for
a Pushcart Prize, a highly-regarded literary award.
Loen Kelly, a renowned television
producer in New York, featured several of Charlie’s essays on life in prison on
the web site, www.prisonwriters.com,
which stirred new worldwide interest in his writings. A Swedish documentary
producer interested in Charlie’s essay, “The Gangs of Florida,” contacted us through Loen. The
Florida Department of Corrections put Charlie’s photo and a link to his essay
on their Facebook page, which went out to prison staff statewide. We received
numerous positive comments from those readers.
Prominent Jacksonville attorneys, Bill Sheppard and
Elizabeth White, continue to fight hard for Charlie’s release. Without their
powerful advocacy over the last several years, we would not be in the position
we are in, hopefully — prayerfully — planning for Charlie’s release.
Charlie’s
current presumptive parole release date is July, 2017, which means a hearing
will be held most likely sometime in April of 2017. We applied for an earlier
hearing, but were inexplicably denied. This year has been occupied with
preparations for the new hearing, and we sincerely thank all of our friends for
their many letters of support sent on Charlie’s behalf. They remain in his file
for consideration by the parole commissioners, all 3 of which are “new” to
their jobs and have not been on the commission for any of Charlie’s previous
hearings. We will keep you posted on this life-altering event.
Dr. Stephen McCoy, executive
director of “Prisoners of Christ Ministry” in Jacksonville, wrote a letter of acceptance to
the parole commissioners, offering Charlie a place in their transition release
program upon his parole. Rev. Ken Cooper, a long-time friend and encourager,
and founder of “Prisoners of Christ,” has also offered his endorsement and
support for Charlie’s release. Prominent Jacksonville
businessman and founder of “Operation New Hope,” Kevin Gay, has offered his
resources in securing full-time employment for Charlie.
Two events during the last week of 2015
carried over to have significant impact on our lives. Early Christmas morning,
2015, Charlie saved the life of another prisoner in his dorm by stopping
another man intent on murder from caving in the skull of the sleeping victim with
a heavy pushbroom. Charlie’s actions were recorded by surveillance cameras. He
distracted the attacker, effectively halting the assault, and called for help.
Charlie’s bravery was acknowledged by prison staff. The incident has been
reported by Charlie in the essay, “A Very Un-Merry Christmas In Prison,”
published on his blog, “Free Charlie Norman Now” http://www.charlienorman.blogspot.com/.
Unfortunately, Charlie was unable to help another young prisoner in his dorm
who died of stab wounds as a result of ongoing gang violence. Charlie was
conducting legal research in the law library the morning of the stabbing, and
only saw the victim being taken to the medical department from a distance.
Four days after the attempted
murder, Charlie agreed to provide sworn testimony in a deposition for the
Florida Attorney General’s Office, in defense of the FDC in a federal
employment discrimination lawsuit. The case involved a rogue prison official at
Okaloosa C.I., who had targeted and retaliated against Charlie and Libby from
2012-2014, for Charlie’s prison writings. The employee was eventually fired for
fabricating disciplinary reports, making false statements, and stealing stamps
and mail. On September 26, 2016, federal judge Robert Hinkle dismissed the
case, finding in favor of the FDC. Charlie’s testimony potentially saved the
State of Florida
a one-two million dollar judgment had the disgruntled former employee
prevailed. A significant point — the Florida State Attorney General vouched for
Charlie’s veracity over the former employee, and the judge agreed.
A
disappointment resulted from an initially positive action on November 7th
when Charlie was moved from the Annex to the newly-reopened work camp, a facility
for prisoners whose “custody level” is medium-to-minimum. The work camp houses
less than 300 “short-timers” who work outside the fences. Charlie’s custody
level was reduced from “close” to “medium” in 2009, and he has been eligible
for “minimum” custody for over two years. Being sent to the work camp indicated
that authorities did not consider Charlie a risk; however, after arriving at
the work camp, another officer reversed the move for unknown reasons and
returned Charlie to his previous bunk at the Annex. All that packing up and
lugging his stuff in a 2-minute bus ride away, only to be sent back after a few
hours of standing around. Charlie’s “good-adjustment” transfer to Putnam C.I.
has been approved for over a year, so hopefully, that will happen sooner rather
than later.
As
always, we continue to be each others’
rock of strength and support,
and
strive to keep our hopes and faith alive
and growing,with
the added support
of family and friends who stand by us.
We
pray that 2017
will be a good year for each of you, too.
Merry
Christmas!
God Bless and Keep You,
Libby and Charlie
