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| Kids Tell of Life on 'The Rock' |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 06/04/2003 |
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'All the boys tended to find it was a great adventure to get through the fence, or climb the cliff, or get to areas where we shouldn't be,' said Stucker, who was 13 when his father ended his second stint as a prison officer there in 1953. 'It was natural. We were confined on an island, two-thirds of which was restricted to us,' Stucker told Reuters. The California retiree is one in a lesser-known group of Alcatraz residents -- the children of officers and other island workers -- who inspired a new documentary called 'Children of Alcatraz.' The film paints a unique view of life on Alcatraz Island, which is best known as the maximum security prison marooned in the cold, choppy waters of San Francisco Bay that housed the nation's most incorrigible criminals from 1934 until it was closed in 1963. 'I had a great time growing up over there. It was just fantastic,' said Bob Orr, who lived on Alcatraz from 1941 until 1956. Orr, now president of the Alcatraz Alumni Association, said in the documentary that one his favorite activities was getting a group of boys together to sleep on the beach, which was very much against the rules. Raised on 'the Rock' Alcatraz was home to 300 or so inmates and nearly as many voluntary residents, men, women and children who lived at various times in a trio of three-story apartment buildings, a duplex, a handful of cottages or converted military housing. Although they were neighbors to such bad guys as Chicago mob boss Al Capone and Robert Stroud, a pimp and murderer dubbed the 'Birdman of Alcatraz' for his tending to birds, island families seldom locked their front doors. Kids rode a boat to school and were subject to the prison warden's rules. Dogs, except the warden's, were banned. Guns were a no-no, too. 'You'd see kids with holsters, but they'd be empty,' said Jolene Babyak, former resident and author of several Alcatraz-inspired books including 'Eyewitness on Alcatraz: Life on the Rock as Told by the Guards, Families & Prisoners.' 'There was very little lawn,' Bob Orr said of 'the Rock,' as Alcatraz was nicknamed. There were roads on the island and roller-skating was popular. 'The fishing there was great. You didn't need a license and there was no limit,' said Stucker, who got access to restricted areas with the help of his fishing buddy -- the warden's wife. Good neighbors Interaction between inmates and children was prohibited, but contact, while unusual, sometimes occurred. Prisoners, under the escort of officers, did electrical and plumbing work around the island. They also did laundry, gardening, baking and shoe repairs. Capone once mended Joyce Ritz's shoes and left his signature on the soles. 'Those days, I had to wear them to school,' Ritz said. 'I wish I would have kept them, they'd be worth something.' Babyak recalled being beckoned by a prisoner when she was 7 years old. He passed her a ball through a chain link fence. Ed Faulk said his sister was nicknamed Olive Oyl by a prisoner she called Popeye. 'I've only come across maybe a dozen stories of kids who had contact with prisoners,' said Stucker, who said he often talked with a prisoner named Montgomery who worked in the warden's house. Relations between the children and inmates broke down in 1946, after a half dozen prisoners got their hands on guns and tried to break out. When the smoke cleared two days later, three inmates and two officers were dead. 'After the riot of 1946, kids were afraid of the prisoners,' Lageson said. That fear has since ebbed. Each summer, the island's former residents -- including former inmates -- hold a reunion weekend and spend one day guiding Alcatraz tours. One such get-together inspired Scott Cornfield, a San Jose police lieutenant, to produce 'Children of Alcatraz,' which he hopes will air on television. |
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