Alcatraz Ghost Story: Roy Gardner's Amazing Train Robberies, Escapes, and Lifelong Love

(Hardback)

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The Incredible True Story of the Most Hunted Man in Pacific Coast Historyand the Woman He Loved

Before the 1920s found theirroar, a charismatic gambling addict named Roy Gardner dominated news headlines with daring train robberies and escapes from incarceration. Nicknamed "the Smiling Bandit," Gardner spilled no bloodexcept his ownas he cut a felonious path across the western United States, as the country hobbled through a recession in the aftermath of the First World War.

Once imprisonedfor the long term in federal prisons, including Alcatraz, the most notorious prison's second-most-notorious inmate won over some unlikely champions. Both Gardner's wife, Dollie, and a policeofficer who once arrested him launched extensive campaigns for Gardner's release on the vaudeville circuit, claiming a brain operation would cure his lawless ways. Was Gardner a good man who made bad decisions as the victim of injury and circumstance Or was his charming personality merely the poker face of a scoundrel

Richly researched, drawing on contemporary newspaper accounts, Alcatraz Ghost Storyexplores the life of Roy Gardner in the context of his great love story and the larger backdrop of drug addiction, incarceration, and the racial and labor violence of the 1920s and 1930s.

Author Bio

Brian Stannard is a guide with Alcatraz Cellhouse Tours. Previously he delivered meals in San Franciscos Tenderloin with Project Open Hand. When experiencing writers block, he paints, and his artwork is displayed in bars from the Mission District to Australias Gold Coast. He also illustrated the book You Dont Know Jack. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and son.