Last Words: The hanging of Ronald Ryan

(Paperback)

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From acclaimed playwright and writer Barry Dickins, Last Words is the story of Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Australia. Fifty years after his death, questions remain unanswered. Ryan hadbeen found guilty of murdering prison officerGeorge Hodson during an escapefrom Pentridge Prison with fellow inmate Peter Walker. But did he really fire the bullet that killed Hodson

On3 February 1967,despite public outrage andvocal protests from wide-ranging community groups,Ryan becamethe last person to belegallyexecutedin Australia.

It was the first time in 20 years that the death penalty had been enforced by the state. Many thought that Ryan's executionwas Victorian Premier Henry Bolte's attempt to bolster his chances of winning the upcoming Victorian election, during which he ran a campaign promotinghislaw-and-order agenda.

Last Words is as much about the hanged man as much as it is about thetrauma ofhis family, and the politicalopportunism behind the decision to proceed with the hanging. In Dickins' lyrical prose he takes readers into the last weeks of Ryan's life and brings to life this infamous man whose personal story has gone undocumented until now.

Author Bio

Barry Dickins is an Australian author, playwright, journalist and artist. He wrote the stage play Remember Ronald Ryan for The Playbox Theatre Company, which in 1995 won The Louis Esson Prize For Drama at the Victorian Premiers Awards, as well as The Amnesty Prize For Peace Through Art. Here the story is told for the first time as prose.