social commentary- prison, race, criminal law, politics, grateful dead and pop in the housing bubble
"unknown to me as i opened the door, there were two DEA in front of the building with pump shotguns..... 'surprise, surprise,' one of them said when i answered the door. As this was happening, my whole life started to pass right in front of me....I opened the door, an automatic 45-caliber gun was put to my forehead while simultaneously being pushed backward all the way down to the ground, during w
hich, this gun barrel was firmly pressed to my forehead....As he cuffed me, he asked if I was Joel Blaeser, after I made a unintelligible sound of assent, he sat me in a kitchen chair and threw a nineteen count federal indictment into my lap." And thus begins Joel's 151 month journey into the prison system, spanning 6 federal prisons, including the most dangerous federal super maximum prison ever built, USP Marion. Letters from Marion recounts the redemptive story of a 23 year year-old, mid western non violent first time offender ending up in the spiritually bereft walls of prison containing some of the most predacious and sophisticated criminals such as John Gotti, Bruce Pierce, James (Doc) Holliday and others. This book is not only a all access back stage pass of life inside prison, but about transformation and freedom being found during lockdown 23 hours a day. Joel quickly learns how to survive in a world where the guards are as corrupt as the criminals. He details the informal "laws" in the world of convicts while desperately trying to retain his humanity. He slowly realizes after enduring many dark nights of the soul that freedom is a state of mind. Woven throughout are his letters to loved ones sent from prison-to Joel's mother, brother and sister-and how incarceration affected them. He comes to know that his family were the ones doing really hard time in the suffering they would endure thinking of what he was going through. Raw and heartfelt, Letters From Marion is an incredible story of survival against all odds revealing the power of hope and faith in us all.
08/22/2025
review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdOZyZb1reM #3 NEWBIE arriving in U.S.P. Marion HEAVY SITUATIONAL ETHICS coupled with the culture of honor among races in prison.....
LETTERS FROM MARION - 2nd edition: A Deadheads Journey From Peace To A Supermax Prison
PRISON, POKER, POLITICS AND THE POP IN THE HOUSING BUBBLE, THE WAR ON DRUGS, RACE, L*D & THE GRATEFUL DEAD PRISON RACE WAR, PRISON FIGHTS, SUPER MAX PRISON WITH JOHN GOTTI..... Joel is an avid Grateful Dead fan that had the awesome gift and pleasure of seeing the Grateful Dead 101 times from 1...
LETTERS FROM MARION: A DEADHEAD'S JOURNEY FROM PEACE TO A SUPERMAX PRISON
Joel is an avid Grateful Dead fan that had the awesome gift and pleasure of seeing the Grateful Dead 101 times from 1984 (at age 15) to 1992 spanning five countries and over 30 states, until losing his federal jury trial for selling L*D, as chronicled in his book Letters From Marion, A Deadheads ...
LETTERS FROM MARION: A Deadheads Journey From peace To A supermax Prison|Hardcover
Joel is an avid Grateful Dead fan that had the awesome gift and pleasure of seeing the Grateful Dead 101 times from 1984 (at age 15) to 1992 spanning five countries and over 30 states, until losing his federal jury trial for selling L*D, as chronicled in his book Letters From Marion, A Deadheads...