“The Editor” was about a man named Robin Woods. Robin committed many crimes. He stole office equipment, broke into peoples properties, stole from people. Robin was trying to sell the equipment he stole, when he was approached by 6 state troopers. He found out his friend had turned him in for a reward. Robin never got angry because his friend passed away so he said there was no point in holding a grudge. Robin was convicted a 16 year sentence because he had been arrested multiple times before hand. He was brought to MCI which he described to be one of the worst prisons he had been in. One night he went out with other prisoners and tore up the jail, and fought with the guards. He said he was proud of the riot, and would absolutely do it again. 7 years were added to his sentence because he got charged with starting the riot.
While Robin was in school, he said he was always getting in trouble and never learned how to read or write. He tried reading books while in prison and got a dictionary from the prison library to learn the words he didn’t know. He would write them down into a notebook and study them. He finished “The Sicilian” and cried because he taught himself how to read. He decided he was going to read the “Marion Webster Encyclopedia” and found a misprint. 15 years into his sentence, he wrote the editor of the encyclopedia a letter and received one in return thanking him. Robins continued to catch errors and was writing back and forth with Mark, the editor.
in 2006, Robin was moved to a stricter prison and was not allowed to have his books. He wrote Mark and told him what happened. Mark reached out to the Commissioner of corrections who was impressed with Robin. Not only did Robin get his books back, he was given a deal. The deal was to do everything the officer wanted, and if he had to be infraction free for an entire year, then he could be released and sent back home.
A year later, Robin was released. He had $50 with no place to live, and no money to pay rent. Mark sent him money, first as a loan, then as a gift. No one knew how much money Mark had sent him. A decade and many phone calls later, Robin went to visit Mark at his house in Massachusetts. When Robin returned home, he found a window had been broken. He said that if he knew what it felt like to have his privacy violated and his stuff stolen, he probably wouldn’t have done it himself. He said that the person responsible should go to jail like he had too.
