Oregon State Penitentiary (Images of America)
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Oregon State Penitentiary (Images of America) by Ritter John
As the only maximum-security prison in the state, the Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) has housed some of the most violent criminals on the West Coast, including brutal serial killers Charley Panzram in 1915 and Jerry Brudos in 1969. Sixty men have been executed inside OSP. The prison was originally built in Portland in 1851 but moved to Salem 15 years later, after Oregon became a state. From that time forward, the Oregon State Penitentiary grew from 23 prisoners in 1866 to 1,912 by 1992. The penitentiary suffered several serious fires and riots. On March 9, 1968, the most expensive riot ever experienced in the United States flared inside the walls, causing over $2.5 million in damages. Numerous escapes plagued the prison until 1970, when security measures were tightened. The most famous escape involved Harry Tracy and David Merrill in 1902.
Baseball novelist John H. Ritter grew up in a baseball family. But we were also a family of musicians and mathematicians, house painters and poets. My dad was a sports writer in Ashtabula, Ohio, who moved the family out west, just before I was born, to become Sports Editor for The San Diego Union. After high school, John attended the University of California at San Diego, where he met his wife, Cheryl, now an elementary school teacher. Like their grown daughter, Jolie, who runs her own espresso cafe, John has always preferred the self-employed life, having been a custom painting contractor for 25 years. Even so, he says, I always 'booked' my calendar with time to write. In 1994, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators honored him with the Judy Blume Award for a novel in progress. Three years later, upon the sale of his first book, to Penguin Putnam, he retired from house painting and realized his dream of becoming a full-time writer. Now, he is the author of six books for young readers: Over the Wall, Choosing Sides, Under the Baseball Moon, The Boy Who Saved Baseball, The Desperado Who Stole Baseball, and Fenway Fever. John H. Ritter lives in Koloa, Hawaii. Learn more about him at johnhritter.com.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781467132213 |
| ISBN 10 | 1467132217 |
| Title | Oregon State Penitentiary (Images of America) |
| Author | Ritter John |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Arcadia Publishing (SC) |
| Year published | 2014-11-24 |
| Number of pages | 128 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |