''Cell 2455, Death Row: A Condemned Man's Own Story'' is a 1954 memoir that is the first of four books written on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

by convicted

robber Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

rapist Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...

and

kidnapper In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

Caryl Chessman Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was a convicted robber, kidnapper and serial rapist who was sentenced to death for a series of crimes committed in January 1948 in the Los Angeles area. Chessman was charged with 17 counts a ...

(27 May 1921 – 2 May 1960). Sentenced to death in 1948 under

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

's Little Lindbergh Law, Chessman became internationally famous for waging a legal battle to stay alive and fight his conviction and death sentence through voluminous appeals. Chessman became a ''

cause célèbre A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...

'' for the movement to ban

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Before he was executed in 1960, he was the longest-lived death row inmate in modern history.

Publishing history

Chessman began writing his memoir after

San Quentin Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

Warden

Harley Teets Harley Oliver Teets (14 November 1906 in Terra Alta, Preston County, West Virginia – 1 September 1957 in Marin, California) was the warden of San Quentin State Prison from 1951 until his death in 1957. During that time he presided over execution ...

told him he should do something with his life. Chessman wrote his autobiography, detailing his life in crime, with Teets's encouragement. The book was sold by literary agent Joseph Longstreth, who publicized the book, championing the condemned man's work. When it was published in 1954, the book became a best-seller and was made into a 1955 film of the same name. The great success caused Teets to attempt to prevent Chessman from additional writing. However, subsequent books written by Chessman were smuggled out of prison.

References

External links

* * 1954 non-fiction books American memoirs Memoirs adapted into films Memoirs of imprisonment Prentice Hall books {{US-bio-book-stub