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Blogs by Jan Sikes
The Convict And The Rose 3/24/2014 10:54:30 AM
The Convict And The Rose is a true story of a man convicted of a crime he didn't commit and a woman who never stopped loving him..
Luke Stone, a veteran Texas musician, arrived at Leavenworth Penitentiary angry, bitter and rebellious. He'd lost everything he treasured in life. It took him several years and lots of time in solitary confinement to figure out that he wasn't going to change prison and prison wasn't going to change him. He searched his soul and decided that it was time to be and be something worthwhile. In an extremely negative place, he learned to think and act positive.
A young Darlina Flowers, left alone and broken without the man who held her heart struggled to find her way. She turned to drugs, followed a guru, tried relationships, all the while longing for Luke to be freed. Their constant love became their North Star.
Luke determinedly clawed his way up from the bottom a tiny step at at time. His saving grace was music and artistic expression. He wrote hundreds of songs and poems, learned to do oil painting, pen-and-ink drawings, leatherwork, American Indian beadwork and make ceramics. He stayed busy.
He advocated for and was finally granted permission. after many years, to build a recording studio inside the walls of prison. And that leads us to the CD part of this project.
Forty Foot High is a compilation of some of the music that was recorded inside the walls of Leavenworth. All except for the title song. I found the lyrics to Forty Foot High while doing research for the book and they really tugged at my heart. I'd never heard Rick Sikes sing the song and it wasn't recorded anywhere.
I asked Jamie Richards (a singer/songwriter) to put music to the lyrics and record it and he agreed. He totally captured the emotion of the song.
The book and CD together preserve a bit of history that might otherwise remain unknown.
Please visit my Kickstarter campaign!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/491493626/the-convict-and-the-rose-book-forty-foot-high-cd
More Blogs by Jan Sikes • Birthing a Project - Tuesday, June 3, 2014 • Why I Write - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 • The Convict And The Rose - Monday, March 24, 2014
