Before the 1920s found their roar, a charismatic gambler named Roy Gardner dominated news headlines with daring train robberies and escapes from incarceration. Nicknamed the “Smiling Bandit,” Gardner spilled no blood- except his own- as he cut a felonious path across the western United States, as the country hobbled through a recession in the aftermath of the First World War.
Once imprisoned for the long term, including a stint at Alcatraz, Gardner won over some unlikely champions. Both Gardner’s wife, Dollie, and a police officer who once arrested him launched extensive campaigns for Gardner’s release on the vaudeville circuit, claiming a brain operation would cure his lawless ways. Was Gardner a good man who made bad decisions as the victim of injury and circumstance? Or was his charming personality the poker face of a scoundrel?
Alcatraz Ghost Story explores the life of Roy Gardner in the context of his great love story and the larger backdrop of drug addiction, incarceration, and racial and labor violence of the 1920 and 19230s.
Alcatraz Ghost Story by Brian Stannard is available at the Alcatraz Museum Store, in addition to the following locations. It is available at many public libraries, too. Bookstore and library staff can also order copies.
Books Kinokuniya, San Francisco
Book Passage, San Francisco Ferry Building
Green Apple Books, San Francisco (9th Ave. and Clement St. Locations)
Books, Inc. (Alameda Location)
Events:
Alcatraz- Brian Stannard works at Alcatraz Tuesday-Saturdays until 3:00 p.m.
Reviews:
brianstannard.com 