One of my favorite podcasts, Only a Game -- a sports podcast on NPR, is going to stop production this Fall. As part of the lead up to production ending, they're re-sharing some of their favorite segments. Today I listened to a segment from 2018 and it really inspired me. It was the story of Valentino Dixon. In brief:
In the early 1990s Valentino Dixon was falsely accused and convicted of murder. The prosecutor pursued the case even though multiple witnesses came forward to say he didn't do it AND someone else confessed. The prosecutor was so vindictive he even had the witnessed who were pro-Dixon charged with perjury. This, of course, silenced other witnesses from coming forward. The defense attorney was no better. He visited Dixon only once during the 10 months he was in prison prior to trial. And the defense attorney waived his right to an opening statement during trial.
After several years in prison, Dixon started drawing. And based on a request from the warden and a suggestion from a friend, he started drawing golf courses. He wrote a letter to Golf Digest, which had a column called, "Golf Saved My Life." The Golf Digest Editorial Director read it and went to see him in prison. After they published Dixon's article in Golf Digest, the struggle to get him released from prison began. In 2018 he was released. He spent 27 years behind bars.
You can read about how art saved him on his website. You can also buy one of the 1500 colored pencil drawings he did while in prison -- prints and originals. Here are a few of them:
I found his story enraging and inspiring. I hope you do too.
If you want to read more about him:
Thanks for stopping by!
