Rock Hard: Autobiography of Former Alcatraz Inmate Leon "Whitey" Thompson

by Leon Thompson

The former inmate of Alcatraz, the infamous escape-proof island prison closed down as inhumane, provides a shocking look inside the hellish and violent world of stone and steel. Reprint.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1994

Reviews

[Andrew Chidzey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book when I was last on Alcatraz Island (I have been three times!) and I am pleased to say it exceeded my expectations. Having visited "the Rock" multiple times, I was keen to read an account of one inmates experience as a serving inmate at this famous institution. As the editors point out at the end of this book, Thompson's account is a memoir rather than an autobiography (the former being a recollection of memories as opposed to the latter being a collection of dates, times and facts). The advantage of this "memoir" is that it personalises the experience of serving time at this institution for the reader. The first 120 pages are dedicated to telling Whitey's story - his abusive upbringing and the range of circumstances that led him to Alcatraz. The middle component documents in detail the mundane and dangerous life on the island and the final segment enables us to learn more about how tough life was for those who were ultimately released from prison. As one of only six inmates directly released from Alcatraz during its time as a federal prison, Leon 'Whitey' Thompson has a unique story to tell and its well worth the read!

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Rock Hard" was originally self-published by the author under the title "Last Train to Alcatraz." I read the book in the late 1980s or early 1990s, as I had met the author selling and signing copies of his book at the Alcatraz bookshop. He spent the years 1958 to 1963 on Alcatraz when it was a prison, when he was transferred from the federal penitentiary at McNeil Island, as he was constantly getting into trouble with other prisoners and the guards. Alcatraz aka "The Rock" was a place for hardened prisoners. Thompson was convicted for bank robbery. He did calm down quite a bit at The Rock and found that he enjoyed painting and made friends of some of the other prisoners and also gained respect from several of the guards.

He writes about his life wherein he didn't feel loved and felt bullied and kicked around, especially by his father. He had a really bad temper that got him into trouble. I noticed this temper when I met him as I noticed for some reason he was getting irritated. I enjoyed the book when I first read it decades ago. As I no longer have my signed copy, I recently bought this "Pocket Book" edition on eBay.

As I had thought it would be, this edition was obviously edited and cleaned up quite a bit as the self-published edition had numerous typos, grammatical problems and misspellings. However, still this was Thompson's story and I enjoyed reading it as much now as I did back then. Unfortunately, Thompson passed away in June 2005, but I am glad he left behind his story. Not only is his personal story interesting, but he left behind some history about Alcatraz right before it ceased to exist as a federal prison in 1963. Now it can be viewed as an interesting tourist attraction on the San Francisco Bay. I have been there several times when I lived in San Francisco in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and I do recommend a visit to anyone who can make it. I do recommend also this book very much.

[Kathi Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting book. Of course, since it is about prison life the language can be a little rough, but even at that, it is probably somewhat watered down. A group of prisoners were able to form bonds of friendship and that, to me, was what made this book. It developed some understanding and sympathy for the characters involved.

[Koren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first-hand account of what it was like to live at Alcatraz. Some things just seemed almost impossible to believe. It was a pretty rough existence. This is an oldie but a goodie, published in