When You Read This They Will Have Killed Me

When Caryl Chessman appeared on the cover of "Time's" March 21, 1960 issue, he was the most famous prisoner in America and arguably the best-known in the world. He not only put a face on the issue of capital punishment, he lived one of the most remarkable transformations of any American writer. Through access to the papers and letters of his attorneys, George T. Davis and Rosalie Asher, the unpublished manuscripts and papers held by Joseph Longstreth, Chesman's literary agent; reminiscences with those who knew him, like country music legend Merle Haggard, the first definitive portrait of the enigmatic Caryl Chessman emerges. Even though his case was once an international cause celebre, Chessman was a household name in 50s America (on the cover of "Time", "Life", "Saturday Evening Post"), and his books sold in such numbers as to underwrite his attempt, via lawyers and legal investigators, to clear his name, Chessman has been effectively expunged from American history.
Summations of his case can be found in reference tomes on American jurisprudence but his four books, written and published during the 12-year period he was on Death Row at San Quentin State Prison, are out of print, and the unpublished writings that were known to exist at the time of his death have never seen the light of day, until now. Not only are his books being reprinted now in Europe, but interest in him has been sparked by a website that insists upon his innocence of the crimes for which he was executed. He was The face on the capital punishment issue only 45 years ago, his books translated into 18 languages and his death on May 2, 1960 caused riots and denunciations around the world. Chessman was fond of citing this "prescription" by Nicolo Machiavelli: "To find the true path to Paradise one must know the way to Hell and then avoid it." Thus, the title of this biography: "The Way to Hell".