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BOOKSHELFA Reporter’s Odyssey
In 1992, while at Cambridge University as part of Columbia’s study abroad program, Jennifer Gonnerman ’94 wrote an article for the student paper showing that the British university gave fewer first-class degrees to female students than to males. The article stirred controversy, especially among Cambridge administrators, and was picked up by the national press. The experience convinced Gonnerman, an English major, that journalism was her calling. Five years later, as a reporter at The Village Voice, Gonnerman began writing about the criminal justice system, especially the rapid growth of the U.S. prison system. She examined New York’s prison system, writing about prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families. Through these articles, she says, she hoped to “force readers to think about the human cost of our criminal justice policies.” In 1998, while working on a story about the 25th anniversary of the Rockefeller drug laws, Gonnerman interviewed Elaine Bartlett, an inmate at Bedford Hills, New York’s only maximum-security prison for women. Bartlett was a first-time offender who was in the 14th year of a 20-to-life sentence for a single drug sale, and Gonnerman stayed in touch. When Bartlett was released in 2000, after winning clemency from the governor, Gonnerman waited for her outside the prison, believing that Bartlett’s story had ended happily. What Gonnerman would soon find out, however, was that Bartlett’s struggle was just beginning, and her next 31–2 years would be devoted to following this new chapter of Bartlett’s life.
Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, $24; www.lifeontheoutside.com) is Gonnerman’s four-year effort to shed light on the human cost of America’s incarceration policies. Shadowing Bartlett, Gonnerman examines how her re-entry into society often is a painstaking, discouraging process. Whether it’s hunting for a job, searching for an apartment or dealing with her parole officer, Bartlett must overcome obstacles despite limited options and resources. She also faces the difficult task of reconnecting with her four children. Frequent disputes with her daughters and her son’s legal troubles shatter Bartlett’s dreams of a smooth transition back into her role as a mother. Bartlett perseveres and has some brighter moments — being able to provide for the family, moving into her own home and campaigning for the repeal of the strict Rockefeller laws. But the hardships and setbacks are a reminder of how difficult it is for an ex-prisoner to fit back into society. For Gonnerman, writing Life on the Outside was a challenging experience and different from the pace of the newsroom. “The hardest part about writing the book was the isolation. I took two years off from my job at The Village Voice, and I spent most of that time cooped up in a room alone, working 12–14 hours a day,” she recalls. In addition to relying on her observations of Bartlett’s life, Gonnerman interviewed close to 100 people, tracked down legal records and had in-depth conversations to capture Bartlett’s thoughts and feelings. “I feel as if I earned a second B.A.,” Gonnerman says about her intense, four-year experience. At the College, Gonnerman wrote for Spectator and was an intern at The Village Voice. She fondly remembers taking Lit Hum with Cathy Popkin, Lionel Trilling Professor of Literature Humanities, and the way she returned papers with helpful comments. Gonnerman also noted her volunteer experience with Community Impact, and how working in a soup kitchen and teaching GED classes brought home to her the “day-to-day struggles of people living in and around Morningside Heights.” Gonnerman plans to continue writing about criminal justice issues and also is interested in mental health. She recently wrote on the dangers of solitary confinement for the mentally ill, and the New York State Museum’s exhibition of 12 suitcases that belonged to insane asylum patients. Peter Kang ’05
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