I had been invited to write a piece by the editor of a new gay men’s magazine who happened to be a friend of mine. It was not an easy time in my life, my future prospects were wobbly to say the least, I had a weak-kneed skill set, an 11 year old son to support and had not yet earned a penny as a writer. My editor friend wanted me to interview an ex-con named Nick who had just been released from prison in Dannemora, New York where the recent double escape just occurred. Nick had committed a murder as a youth in a hold-up gone wrong and served 20 years in prison. The editor of this somewhat raunchy magazine wanted a piece about Nick’s sex life in prison during those 20 years.
Nick gave me a great interview, filled me with eye-opening material from a world about which I knew nothing. However, when we got to the subject of sex, Nick shrugged. I asked what the shrug meant. He answered, I only had sex 4 times in 20 years. But aren’t you gay, I asked. Yes, he replied, But I’m also Italian. In prison I didn’t want anyone to know I was gay. You see, you can’t be gay if you’re Italian …that’s how it was then. My life would have been hell if anyone had discovered my secret. I couldn’t risk it. Sometimes I would plan for one of my sexual encounters for 2 or 3 years, making sure that I wouldn’t be discovered. I’m sure you can’t imagine this, but it’s true. None of these 4 liaisons lasted more than 10 minutes.
Fascinating stuff, but hardly the makings of a sexy article. What to do? What to do?
Then, by chance, I met Padric McGarry who told me he’d been in 20 different prisons in the course of 25 years, starting at age 16. I told him about Nick. Yeah, I knew guys like Nick in those days, you couldn’t blame them. It was dangerous to be gay. What about you, I asked, did you hide it too? He laughed. Are you kidding. I was put in segregation from the get-go, had Homosexual stamped on my papers. What about your sex life, I timidly enquired. Me? You could call me a seminal dump. I probably had sex thousands of times …
Right then my article became the story of 2 rather than 1 gay ex-con. It was titled “Sex In The Slammer” and, a bit sheepish about writing so brazenly about sex, I used a pseudonym. I earned $245 and took my 11 year kid out for the steak he’d been wanting. And so my career as a professional, money-earning writer and my entanglement with the life story of Padric McGarry began ….
[Photo: Padric at age 56] [The Potato Eater]
I read “Potato Eater” in shocked bursts, yet could not stay away from the next word, next paragraph. Padric is so far from anyone that I have known, he, or I, might as well be from a different planet. Alison Leslie Gold has made me realize how protected, and fortunate, I have been. Padric was awesome to have survived, and thrived, in his raw street-wise world. And it takes an awesome writer to present Padric in all his unvarnished grit as a likeable and very human individual.
Hi Alison. Well, I have just finished The Potato Eater and as requested my reader’s notes are below. Firstly though I must ask – how on earth did you come up with Dickey’s mother’s Bible Cake recipe? Astounding – do the maths actually work?
Notes:
Reminiscent of a ‘road novel’ The Potato Eater gives an insight into the personal journey of a highly unusual man. Although partly fictionalised, as a reader I was convinced that I was witnessing the truth about a lifestyle most of us cannot imagine. Gold’s use of third-person narrative allows Padric’s adventures to be related in a completely unsentimental way, whilst simultaneously managing to establish empathy for him. Whatever happens, and there are some truly pitiful scenes, our hero just gets on with his life.
Gold’s unique, unpretentious style inspires genuine sympathy, as well as admiration for this man of courage without having to resort to lengthy, detailed descriptions of how Padric was feeling; a refreshing change from misery memoirs and for me, much more effective.
Hi Lynne,
Wonderful to hear your thoughts. It IS a road novel. Very much so. Bulls eye!!! I don’t know where on earth I stumbled on the Bible Cake recipe. Just one of those things that sit for years in a pile of clippings and notes and one day I realize why I saved it. (I’ve got about 40 of these piles in boxes and am trying to sort through them right now …. and failing.) Thanks for noticing.
Would love to see these comments in an Amazon review …
Hi Alison. I have added my comments to the others already on Amazon and find that others have equally found this book to be special. Now, which one of yours should I read next ………
Dear Lynn,
Forgive my delay in replying. Glad you liked Potato Eater. How about The Devil’s Mistress next? Or else Fiet’s Vase?
Hope you’re keeping well. Glad to hear from you always.
Alison …