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Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 15:01:33 +0100
Subject: [zzzzteana] Meaningful sentences
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The Scotsman

 Thu 22 Aug 2002 

 Meaningful sentences 
 
 Tracey Lawson 
 
 
 If you ever wanted to look like "one of the most dangerous inmates in prison
 history", as one judge described Charles Bronson, now’s your chance. Bronson -
 the serial hostage taker, not the movie star - has written a health and
 fitness guide in which he shares some of the secrets behind his legendary
 muscle power. 
 
 Solitary Fitness - a title which bears testament to the fact that Bronson, 48,
 has spent 24 of his 28 prison years in solitary confinement - explains how he
 has turned himself into a lean, mean, fitness machine while living 23 hours a
 day in a space just 12 feet by eight feet, on a diet of scrubs grub and at
 virtually no cost. 
 
 The book is aimed at those who want to get fabulously fit without spending a
 fortune on gym memberships, protein supplements or designer trainers, and
 starts with a fierce attack on some of the expensive myths churned out by the
 exercise industry. 
 
 "I pick up a fitness mag, I start to laugh and I wipe my arse with it," is the
 opening paragraph penned by Bronson. "It’s a joke and a big con and they call
 me a criminal!" You can’t help feeling he has a point. 
 
 This is not the first book that Bronson has written from behind bars, having
 already published Birdman Opens His Mind, which features drawings and poems
 created by Bronson while in prison. And he is not the first prisoner to
 discover creative expression while residing at Her Majesty’s pleasure. 
 
 Jimmy Boyle, the Scots sculptor and novelist, discovered his artistic talents
 when he was sent to Barlinnie Prison’s famous special unit, which aimed to
 help inmates put their violent pasts behind them by teaching them how to
 express their emotions artistically. Boyle was sentenced to life for the
 murder of "Babs" Rooney in 1967. Once released, he moved to Edinburgh where he
 has become a respected artist. His first novel, Hero of the Underworld, was
 published in 1999 and his autobiography, A Sense of Freedom, was made into an
 award-winning film. 
 
 Hugh Collins was jailed for life in 1977 for the murder of William Mooney in
 Glasgow, and in his first year in Barlinnie prison stabbed three prison
 officers, earning him an extra seven-year sentence. But, after being
 transferred to the same unit that Boyle attended, he learned to sculpt and
 developed an interest in art. He later published Autobiography of a Murderer,
 a frank account of Glasgow’s criminal culture in the 1960s, which received
 critical praise. 
 
 And Lord Archer doesn’t seem to have had trouble continuing to write the books
 that have made him millions while in jail. He recently signed a three-book
 deal with Macmillan publishers worth a reported £10 million, and is no doubt
 scribbling away as we speak. 
 
 So why is it that men like Collins, Bronson and Boyle, who can be so
 destructive towards society on the outside, can become so creative once stuck
 on the inside? Steve Richards, Bronson’s publisher, has published many books
 about criminal figures and believes the roots of this phenomenon are both
 pragmatic and profound. 
 
 He says: "Prison is sometimes the first time some criminals will ever have
 known a stable environment, and this can be the first time they have the
 chance to focus on their creative skills. 
 
 "It may also be the first time that they have really had the chance of an
 education, if their early years have been hard. It could be the first time
 anyone has offered them the chance to explore their creative talents." 
 
 However, Richards believes the reasons are also deeper than that. He says:
 "Once they are behind bars, the cold light of day hits them, and they examine
 the very essence of who they are. 
 
 "They ask themselves, am I a man who wants to be remembered for violence? Or
 am I a man who can contribute to society, who can be remembered for something
 good?" 
 
 Bronson - who was born Michael Gordon Peterson, but changed his name to that
 of the Hollywood star of the Death Wish films - has, so far, been remembered
 mainly for things bad. He was originally jailed for seven years for armed
 robbery in 1974, and has had a series of sentences added to his original term
 over the years as a result of attacking people in prison. In 2000 he was
 jailed for life after being convicted of holding a teacher hostage for nearly
 two days during a jail siege. 
 
 Standing five feet ten and a half inches tall and weighing 210lbs, he is
 renowned for his strength. He has bent metal cell doors with his bare hands
 and does up to 3,000 - yes, 3,000 - press-ups a day. As he puts it: "I can hit
 a man 20 times in four seconds, I can push 132 press ups in 60 seconds." 
 
 But judging by our current obsession with health and exercise, Solitary
 Fitness might be the book which will see Bronson’s face sitting on every
 coffee table in the land. He might be the man to give us the dream body which
 so many so-called fitness gurus promise but fail to motivate us into. Because
 Bronson has learned to use words as powerfully as he can use his fists. 
 
 "All this crap about high-protein drinks, pills, diets, it’s just a load of
 bollocks and a multi-million-pound racket," he writes, in what can only be
 described as a refreshingly honest style. "We can all be fat lazy bastards,
 it’s our choice, I’m sick of hearing and reading about excuses, if you stuff
 your face with shit you become shit, that’s logical to me." 
 
 As motivational mantras go, that might be just the kick up the, er, backside
 we all needed. 
 
 
 Solitary Fitness by Charles Bronson is published by Mirage Publishing and will
 be available in bookstores from October at £7.99


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