User:JarrodAllen

Retiree Publishes Prison Related Material

Roy Dunlap's hobby of discussing family events and ancestry has turned into a full time prison newsletter project. What began as a weekly letter mailed to 44 family members in October 1994 has evolved into a monthly prison newsletter, serving over 15,000 inmates, being mailed to Correctional Facilities all over the United States.

When a friend ran afoul of the law and was incarcerated, Roy began mailing him the weekly offerings and he in turn shared the "news from home" with other inmates. In June of 1995, weekly distribution of “Dunlap: Trash” was newsletter was approximately 44 copies per week, large for a family newsletter, but manageable.

In July of 1998, Roy who is retired and on disability, thought it would be best to spin off another newsletter, known as “Dunlap: The Son of Trash” geared toward offenders, featuring only trivia, puzzles, cryptograms and throw away news filler items. After all, how interested could an inmate be in knowing family history from Scotland or what his mother (Ruth Dunlap) did last weekend? To fill the request coming in from inmates "without family, loved ones or anyone on the outside", Roy began a six paged, legal sized newsletter catering to the needs of inmates.

Since the first issue in July of 1998, the project has grown to a readership of over 15,000 as of March 2009. What began as a trickle of inmates wanting a copy of “Dunlap: The Son of Trash” has exploded into an overwhelming demand for the mentally challenging entertainment publication, which promotes itself as non-political and non-religious. The newsletter is closely associated with Pen Friends and Services, Inc. a non-profit organization that assist in providing resources and direction for those inmates that are released and trying to reestablish into society.

Not being able to afford the new popularity of his publication, Roy began charging seven first class postage stamps for a six month subscription, which pays for the postage and allows one extra stamp for those requesting a sample issue. Uncle Roy, as he is affectionately known throughout the systems, says "it upset me to receive a letter from someone who states 'they have no one who cares' (about them). "How can I say no, there are over 250 million people in America, and someone is saying 'they have no one who cares’, what's wrong with this picture”?

So, once a month he sits down and began researching archives for trivia, puzzles, personality test, anything that will occupy someone’s time for a couple of hours. "The more difficult the puzzles or math problems the better they like it", Roy states. Which creates the situation of inmates sharing and discussing literary or math problems with other inmates, who in turn want their own copies and thus circulation goes up.

Some days Roy receives 25 to 30 letters asking to be placed on his mailing list, which he does gladly. But the situation has moved far beyond the expense of postage, as the cost of supplies is now skyrocketing due to the demand. "I have trashed three lazar jet printers in the past six months", states Roy, "and the cost of a toner is over $120, which is only good for about 5,000 pages. So, I'm using about 4 toner cartridges a month plus several reams of paper”. This is a totally inmate funded project and they contribute to its success and long running history.

Roy says the social interaction he receives from writing the newsletter far outweighs any negative connotations he gets from "those who don't understand the needs of personal interaction for inmates". While the newsletter has met with some resistance in some Penal Systems in various states, those issues have all been resolved with letters to the Governor or Wardens in those states explaining the purpose of the newsletter. It is non-political, non-religious, non-threatening to anyone, it's just something to do and if someone learns to read or develops a problem solving skill, that’s an added bonus.

Some inmates, not being able to afford the stamps or money necessary for a subscription usually donate artwork, poems or stories to the newsletter. Roy has collected these donations and recently had them published in a book, the “Prison Coffee Table Book Project”. This is a collection from around the nation of colored artwork and is available online at www.amazon.com. Each page is a story in itself needing to be told.

Several projects are currently running nationwide including: a prison craft website (www.mushfaketoday.org), social interaction classes for inmates, housing and job projects. These projects are being operated by Roy’s cousin from Amarillo, Carol Briney, who currently lives in Canton, Ohio and works closely with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.

The second volume of the coffee table book project is due out in late March. It will feature only black and white artwork, plus written stories and poems. The success of this publishing project will demand future volumes and individual biographies.

Reprinted with permission of Roy Dunlap, Author First Appeared in The Dalhart Texan Newspaper, Dalhart, Texas